Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My Department generally has differences with every Government Department it deals with; that is what it is there for. It is there to make sure that there is consistency in respect of staffing and spending decisions. The view of my Department was that the appropriate level for this role was principal officer. The very reason for that was that the equivalent position within the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is also at principal officer level. That was the rationale behind the decision we made. We have met with the Oireachtas commission in respect of this on a number of occasions and we have recognised the potential role of this office.

My Department has now issued sanction for this post to be at assistant secretary general level because this is an organisation that I want to see set up and done well. This is not a code for me or my Department's saying that every additional staffing request or grading request made will be agreed to. I have a responsibility to make sure that we handle pay and staffing matters in a consistent manner across all Government Departments. Upon consideration of the issue, I have agreed that the post be at that level and that is the level at which it will be advertised.

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