Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 331: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of political appointees and non established civil servants appointed to his Department since June 2002; the nature of the post to which each such person is appointed; the annual cost in terms of salaries or expenses in respect of each such post for each year since 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26988/06]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 332: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of staff broken down by grade employed within the private office and the constituency office; the number of such 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 in respect of each Minister of State allocated to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27003/06]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 333: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of staff broken down by grade employed within his private office and his constituency office; the number of such 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. [27018/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 331 to 333, inclusive, together.

There are ten staff employed in my private office. These include 8 administrative staff, a Press Adviser and a Special Adviser. The 8 administrative staff are all established civil servants, one Higher Executive Officer, 1.5 Executive Officers and 5.5 Clerical Officers. The Higher Executive Officer is on a payscale of €42,180 to €53,541 with a Private Secretary allowance of €18,742 per annum. The Executive Officers are on a payscale of €27,692 to €43,944 adjusted proportionally in the case of the work sharing officer. 1 Clerical Officer is on a pay scale of €21,974 to €34,786 (Clerical Officer Higher Scale) adjusted accordingly to take account of work sharing. 3 of the Clerical Officers are on a pay scale of €20,996 to €34,049 (Class B rate of PRSI contribution applies). The other 2 Clerical Officers are on a payscale of €22,102 to €35,838 (Class A rate of PRSI contribution applies as they commenced employment after 6 April 1995. The total overtime costs and expenses incurred from September 2004 to date for the administrative staff in this office are €22,301 and €11,732 respectively.

The duties carried out by the Press Adviser and Special Adviser, who were appointed by me on a contract basis for my term of office, are as set out in Section 11 of the Public Service Management Act, 1997 i.e. to assist the Minister by providing advice on a wide range of issues, by monitoring, facilitating and securing the achievement of Government objectives that relate to my Department and by performing such other functions as may be directed by me.

The Press Adviser is on a personal salary of up to €103,000 together with a private pension contribution of 11% of salary. The Special Adviser is on a Principal Officer payscale of up to €90,770. The total expenses incurred to date by my Press Adviser and Special Adviser are €31,605 and €18,132 respectively. No overtime costs have been incurred by these officers who are on call on a seven day per week basis.

There are a total of six full-time administrative staff assigned to deal with matters in my constituency office. There are four established civil servants, one Executive Officer on a payscale of €27,692 to €43,944 and three Clerical Officers on a payscale of €22,102 to €35,838. The total overtime costs incurred from September 2004 to date for the administrative staff in this office are €5,123. No expenses have been incurred by these officers.

I have also appointed, on a contract basis for my term of office, two non-established civil servants, a Personal Secretary and a Personal Assistant. The roles of my Personal Secretary and Personal Assistant are to provide administrative support and back-up in my capacity as a TD and in my constituency office. The annual salary for my Personal Secretary is €40,520. My Personal Assistant is on secondment from the Department of Education and Science. That Department will recoup from my Department on an annual basis the cost of a replacement teacher's salary, allowances, PRSI contributions and superannuation contributions. This will be in the region of €44,800. The total expenses incurred to date by my Personal Assistant and Personal Secretary are €840 and €496, respectively. No overtime costs have been incurred by these officers.