Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Duffy for raising this matter. He is correct to say it is nuanced. I can see why he is taking the approach he is taking because, first, it is about firefighters, who put their lives at risk to keep us safe. The Senator quite rightly pointed out that the work of a councillor is full time. In many ways, all a person in this situation is trying to do is to do better. Then there is the other aspect, whereby people in similar roles, in the retained aspect of firefighting, can run for election. From that point of view, I can see the Senator's point.

I will set out the legislation and listen to the Senator's thoughts on that. The legislative position in respect of local authority membership is set out in the Local Government Act 2001. The Act sets out the categories of individuals who are disqualified from being elected or co-opted to become member of a local authority. Section 161(1)(a) provides that member of a local authority is not to be employed by a local authority. However, it allows the Minister to designate such classes, descriptions or grades of employments to which this restriction does not apply or to specify conditions under which the restriction does not apply.

SI 216 of 2004 is made under section 161(1)(b) and provides that a local authority employee whose maximum remuneration on the last date for receipt of nominations at a local election does not exceed the maximum remuneration for the post of clerical officer may be elected or co-opted to become a member of a local authority. These provisions reflect the provisions of Circular 09/2009, Civil Servants and Political Activity, published by the Department of Finance, now the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitilisation. The matter of maximum remuneration has been raised previously and, for the avoidance of doubt, my Department issued Circular 03/2024 in advance of the most recent local elections, which clarifies “maximum remuneration” as the maximum basic salary exclusive of overtime, callout-incident attendance payment or any allowances. As of 1 March 2025, the maximum point on the clerical officer pay scale was €46,334. The maximum annual allowance paid to retained firefighters after eight years of service was €17,854, as of March 2025. This level of remuneration means that they do not exceed this threshold and can therefore contest local elections in accordance with the regulations. As of 1 March 2025, the maximum point on the firefighter pay scale was either €57,046 or €57,096, depending on the location. This level of remuneration for full-time firefighters exceeds the threshold, meaning they are ineligible to contest local elections in accordance with the regulations.

In considering any changes to legislation to include grades whose salary exceeds the maximum remuneration for the post of clerical officer, including full-time firefighters, the Minister must be mindful of prevailing provisions in the wider Civil Service. As these remain unchanged, the Minister therefore has no plans to make a new statutory instrument in this regard. As I said at the start, I appreciate where the Senator is coming from on this and the fact these men and women are putting their lives on the line, but the point of the response is where do we draw the line on this when it comes to pay grades. What description of local authority employee do we say can or cannot contest a local election? I guess the fear is this opens it up. I will certainly bring it back to the Minister, but as it stands there are no plans to bring forward a statutory instrument to allow that to be the case.