Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 162: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of staff broken down by grade employed within the private and constituency office; the number of staff who are permanent civil servants; the number who are political appointees; the annual cost of each such office in terms of salary, overtime and expenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38328/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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There are currently seven staff employed in my private office, one special adviser at principal officer level, one private secretary at higher executive officer level, one personal assistant at higher executive officer level, two executive officers and two clerical officers. There are currently six staff employed in my constituency office, two executive officers, one personal secretary at Oireachtas secretarial assistant level and three clerical officers.

All those mentioned are permanent civil servants, except my personal assistant and personal secretary. My special adviser is a permanent civil servant on secondment to this position. All these staff are paid at the appropriate Civil Service rates. In addition, my special adviser and personal secretary are each paid a 10% attraction allowance in respect of their current positions. My private secretary is paid an allowance at the rate of €18,015 per annum for these duties.

The expenses and overtime paid for the year ended 31 December 2004 are as follows:

The staffing of both my private and constituency offices is in line with Department of Finance guidelines on this matter.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 163: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of staff broken down by grade employed within the private and constituency office; the number of staff who are permanent civil servants; the number who are political appointees; the annual cost of each such office in terms of salary, overtime and expenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38329/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The requested details, which I outlined in my response to the identical question, Question No. 389 tabled by the Deputy on 22 November 2005, are as follows:

The staff in the table above are civil servants.

I have also appointed one special adviser, one policy adviser and one press adviser. The individuals concerned transferred with me from the Department of Health and Children on my appointment as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on 29 September 2004. My special adviser is a civil servant while my policy adviser and press adviser are non-civil servants.

It is estimated that the total cost of running the private and constituency offices for 2005 will amount to €624,816 and €130,893, respectively.