Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I very rarely raise the issue of what people in the public service are paid because I genuinely believe they earn what they get. However, I find it impossible to reconcile today's news on the issue of overtime, in particular. I have been dealing with the public service and the Civil Service for many years but I have never heard of senior management getting overtime. It does not happen in the Civil Service or in the public service where time in lieu operates. When one is promoted to a senior management role, overtime is not paid, although one may get time in lieu.

The Department of Finance regularly tells us about creating precedent. Many people who will read this morning's newspaper will ask from where this came. These people are at Secretary General level in salary terms. As far as I know, no Secretary General in the Civil Service can claim overtime, unless something new has happened. I am not questioning what people are paid but rather how overtime can be applied to people in senior management positions.

It is a major embarrassment to the Government and the Minister that this is happening. Tonight I will meet people from the nursing unions and it is impossible to reconcile this. It is unacceptable, although there may be issues about which we do not know. This has not happened before. I would like someone to come to the House to inform us how we arrived at this situation where people at Secretary General level can claim overtime. It is unacceptable and reflects badly on the management of the health service. We may have been given wrong information by the newspapers, which has happened previously, but if what we read is correct, it is unacceptable.