Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Taoiseach the progress made in relation to allowances in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42658/12]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Taoiseach the steps he has taken to deal with the issue of allowances paid to staff in his Department. [49774/12]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.

I am arranging for details of the allowances paid to staff in my Department to be circulated with the Official Report. Details of the business cases made by my Department to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform are available on that Department's website, www.per.gov.ie.

Following publication of the central review of allowances by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on 18 September last, the delegates' allowance was abolished with immediate effect. My Department has also abolished, with effect from 31 October 2012, the clothing allowance that was payable to a small number of staff who attend official functions. A number of allowances are being abolished for new beneficiaries, including the retention element of private secretary allowances, which will not be paid to new beneficiaries, and allowances payable to a personal assistant and diary secretary in my office.

Most of the remaining allowances paid to staff in my Department are in recognition of the additional duties and longer hours inherent in the performance of these roles - for example, allowances for private secretaries and those in the press office. It is also worth noting that many of the allowances are paid to relatively junior grades in the Department, are payable across the Civil Service and are dealt with centrally for the Civil Service as a whole. In accordance with the directions provided by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, my Department continues to seek further efficiencies and savings under the Croke Park agreement, including in this area.

The following table provides details of the allowances payable in the Department of the Taoiseach.

Notes:

- Former private secretaries retain a portion of the private secretary allowance when they vacate their positions. The four former private secretaries in my Department receive €12,214, €9,287 (two recipients) and €5,185 per annum, respectively.

- The review of public service allowances published in September 2012 included the retention element of the private secretary allowances, the diary secretary to the Taoiseach allowance and the personal assistant to the Taoiseach's private office allowance in the classes of allowance to be abolished for new beneficiaries.

- My Department also pays a higher duties allowance to one member of staff and a deputy head of division allowance to a member of staff on secondment from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the instruction of that Department.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Earlier this year, and last year, the Taoiseach and many of his ministerial colleagues were busy telling journalists significant savings would be made with regard to the alleged "untold millions" being paid out in allowances across the public service and with the Department of the Taoiseach. Given what happened when the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, made his announcement on the completion of the work by his Department, that, in essence, was more about media spinning than about reality. The saving of €3 million, rather than the suggested €75 million, was very poor. It is extraordinary that the Minister got himself embroiled in such a situation, with no clear outcome.

When the Taoiseach promised to make savings originally, what savings did he promise from his Department and what will the shortfall be? What is the difference between what was targeted and what has subsequently emerged? Did the Taoiseach make assumptions before he agreed the budget figures, including millions in savings from allowances? In other words, when he was preparing his departmental figures and estimates, did he factor in savings from allowances? There has been significant talk about allowances and significant work has been done by the Minister, Deputy Howlin, and others on this. They created the idea that there was a battle ahead and that they would fight a heroic battle against vested interests and tackle the issue of excessive allowances, but that has not happened. People are none the wiser as to what the entire exercise was about.

Why was so much promised in terms of the scale of the allowances? When did the Taoiseach become aware that the savings could not or would not be delivered?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy's question relates to the progress made in the Department of the Taoiseach with regard to allowances, and Deputy Adams asked what steps have been taken to deal with the issue of allowances paid to staff in the Department. I have answered those two questions.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, has set out quite exhaustively the scale of public sector reform that is going on. He made an announcement some time ago with regard to a small number of allowances, and subsequently met with the implementation group and the trade unions. Sectoral meetings have taken place since with regard to further savings that can be squeezed from the Croke Park agreement. The Minister is pursuing that.

The strategy for major public sector reform is continuing with intensity. The Deputy is also aware of the recent announcement in respect of savings to be made under the assimilation, absorption and abolition of a whole range of quangos. This work is in train and the Minister will report on it regularly. I do not have the details in front of me here, but they are on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The Minister is more than amenable to answering detailed questions on any aspect of allowances which are being abolished, retained or reviewed, the number of which is considerable in each case.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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My question asked what steps the Taoiseach has taken to deal with the issue of allowances for staff in his Department. My concern relates to the disparity of pay levels between lower-grade civil servants and those at the top, because that gap has grown wider. Many of the issues that have been under public discussion with regard to public servants at lower and middle income levels concern allowances that were given as alternatives to pay increases, which should be considered as core pay. Under Fianna Fáil, payment for Secretaries General rose from €100,000 in 2000 up to €285,000, while lower-paid workers had to rely on these allowances. Clearly, if indefensible allowances are being paid, these should be withdrawn, but allowances paid to lower and middle-income public servants are part of their core pay.

We have a difficulty as we try to work our way through this recession. One element, the upper echelons, have a huge amount of money, but those at other levels are paid very meagre incomes. Senior civil servants, public hospital consultants, special advisers and Ministers are all paid significantly more than their EU counterparts. The Taoiseach is paid more than the French President or the Spanish Prime Minister. I have two suggestions. First, if we are going to start cutting pay, we should start at the top and show an example to the citizens. The Taoiseach may have provided a breakdown of the allowances paid in his Department, but I apologise if I did not pick up on it. How do we get that breakdown of the allowances being paid in the Department and the salary scales of those in receipt of them? What steps has the Taoiseach taken or will he take on the issue of allowances for people in his Department?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has asked what steps I have "taken to deal with the issue of allowances paid to staff" in my Department. Details of the changes made to a number of the allowances paid to staff in the Department of the Taoiseach are being circulated in the Official Report. Deputy Gerry Adams is right to suggest some of these allowances have been paid in addition to basic pay to personnel on the lower scales of public service salaries. They are set out in the details to be circulated. The details do not include information on the salary of each individual. The information can be seen by category, depending on whether the individual is a clerical assistant or a clerical officer, for example. The details can be amended to include the number of public servants in each of these categories in the Department. If such details are required, they can be circulated.

In a wider sense, it should be noted that €1.4 billion was spent on allowances and premium payments in 2011. Following the review, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has brought proposals to the Government whereby allowances worth €720 million would be abolished, not paid to new beneficiaries or would be subject by review by sectoral management to secure additional savings. The annual cost of paying to current incumbents the allowances that will not now be paid to new beneficiaries is approximately €475 million. A further range of allowances with an annual value of €245 million will be subject to modification of their payment terms. The allowance paid to officials who travel outside Ireland and the United Kingdom to represent Ireland at meetings of EU or other international organisations, or who act as chairpersons of EU committees, has been abolished for new beneficiaries and existing staff. This allowance is known as the chairpersons and delegates allowance. The immediate value of these decisions is estimated to be €3.5 million in 2012, increasing to over €16 million by 2015. All of these matters have been referred to in some detail by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the information is available on the official departmental website.

All of this is part of the process of major reform of the way we view the public service and the public sector. As I said, details relating to the Department of the Taoiseach will be circulated in the Official Report. These details can be amended to include the number in each sector who are receiving individual payments. A number of staff on the lowest salary scales have traditionally received some of these allowances. That is the case not just in this Department but across the Civil Service. These payments will be subject to central review as part of the package of allowances and reform being considered.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As a principle, any change must ensure those with the most and those on higher incomes contribute the most to the resolution of the crisis we are in. I put to the Taoiseach my contention that this exercise was completely oversold from the beginning. It was suggested it would yield massive savings. The massive spin machine employed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, in particular, came to naught. It was suggested savings of €150 million could be made from a €1.5 billion pot, but a figure of just €3 million was realised. Will the Taoiseach indicate to the House the total amount in allowances paid in his Department? What percentage of the overall allowances paid in the Department will be saved as a result of the savings he enumerated? If he does not have that information to hand, he might be able to forward it to me at a later stage. As I have no interest in rewriting history - Deputy Gerry Adams may have - I would like to remind the House that the pay of all public servants was increased significantly during our time in office, for which we have been criticised. Over a sustained period, substantial increases were awarded across the ranks to the various grades in the Civil Service and the public service generally through procedures such as social partnership, benchmarking and independent pay reviews. The allowances issue was raised by the Government. I tabled Question No. 1 in that context.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I do not have the figure for the scale of the savings achieved in the Department of the Taoiseach. We will include the estimated savings in the report to be circulated. A number of historical allowances are paid to certain grades only. The footwear allowance will now be paid every two years to those who engage in outdoor duties. I mentioned the chairpersons and delegates allowance which was abolished on 18 September. The allowance paid to the personal assistant in the Taoiseach's private office and the allowance paid to the person who looks after the Taoiseach's diary will not be paid to new beneficiaries. The retention element of the allowances paid to the private secretaries of the Taoiseach and the Minister of State will not be retained by new beneficiaries. Clearly, the Department is engaging with staff on other allowances subject to review or negotiation. I will try to put together the best estimate of what the savings will be from the relatively small number of allowances in the Department of the Taoiseach which have been modified, abolished or will not be paid to new beneficiaries.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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The capitalist press, notably the sections owned by tax avoiding billionaire exiles, regularly uses the anachronistic nature of many allowances to ridicule, undermine and treat with contempt public sector workers in general. It tries to create the impression that all such workers are living as if they own goldmines. If the interests of the public sector in the Department of the Taoiseach are of importance to the Taoiseach, I suggest he consolidate these allowances with pay rates generally for low and middle income workers, while scrapping them completely for the high flyers in the public sector who are paid more than €100,000 per annum. That would make it clear to everyone that the bulk of public sector workers were on low or middle incomes - some of them are on very low pay - and suffering grievously under the Government's austerity policy. At least, that much would be clear. Will the Taoiseach lead by example in his Department as an example to the public sector generally?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I share the Deputy's view that many of these workers who do their jobs very diligently are at the lowest end of the public sector wage scale. I agree with him that there are too many categories in the public sector. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, has referred to this on a number of occasions. It would be far preferable if the allowances were modified or changed to become part of the pay of those involved. As the Deputy suggested, they should not be tagged with allowance X or Y which have been paid for many years for various reasons. As part of the concept of reforming the public sector, it has to be made more efficient and meaningful. I agree that these tags should not be attached to workers who might be at the lower end of the pay scale. I hope the work put in train by the Minister and his Department will ensure the arrangements for those who work at the lower end of public sector salary scales are far more efficient, relevant and meaningful. Clearly, these matters need to be considered at the other end of the scale in the context of the budget that will be presented by the Minister for Finance in December.