John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 433: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of persons employed in her private office and her constituency offices; the annual amount paid in respect of salaries and expenses in regard to each such office in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42908/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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There are currently 8 staff in the private office and 5 staff in the constituency office, as detailed below. Only 3 of these, the Policy Adviser, Personal Assistant and Personal Secretary, are non-civil servants. In total, including the Press Officer mentioned below, there are 15 staff between both offices. There are no staff assigned to a Minister of State in the Department.

The Deputies may be interested to know that, as detailed below, there were more than twice as many Ministerial staff in this Department in 1996. At that time, there were 17 staff in the Minister De Rossa's office, 3 of whom were non-civil servants. Minister De Rossa also had a policy unit with 6 staff, 5 of whom were non-civil servants. No such unit has been put in place by any Minister since 1997. The Department also had a Minister of State in 1996, Bernard Durkan TD, who had 13 staff. The total staffing, therefore, was 36 in 1996, compared with 15 now. The total number of non-civil servants was 12 at that time, compared with 2 at present. The details of the current staffing and that in 1996 are below.

CURRENT STAFFING

Minister's Office —

Civil Servants

1 Press Officer on a salary of €73,610.

I have appointed, on a contract basis for my term of office, a civil servant, Ms Geraldine Butler, as a Press Officer. She is currently on a salary of €73,610. This officer is on call on a seven day per week basis and is not entitled to overtime.

1 Private Secretary on the Higher Executive Officer pay scale (€46,558 to €59,097), with a private secretary allowance of €20,182 per annum.

1 Executive Officer on a pay scale of €30,566 to €48,504.

Three Clerical Officers on a pay scale of €22,609 to €36,667.

Two Clerical officers on a pay scale of €23,801 to €38,593 (these staff pay a class A PRSI contribution).

The total cost of overtime and expenses incurred to date in 2008 for these officers is €1,505.54 and €2,499.03 respectively.

Non-civil servants

1 Policy Adviser, Averil Power, paid on the Principal Officer scale, with a current salary of €97,109 per annum. This officer is on call on a seven day per week basis and is not entitled to overtime. No expenses have been incurred by this person to date.

Constituency Office —

Civil servants

1 Executive Officer on a pay scale of €32,179 to €51,054.

1 Clerical Officer on a pay scale of €22,609 to €36,667.

2 Clerical officers on a pay scale of €23,801 to €38,593 (these staff pay a class A PRSI contribution).

Non-civil servants

1 Personal Assistant, Mr. Peter O'Brien, currently being paid €55,030 per annum, plus an 11% contribution to a private pension account. 1 Personal Secretary, Ms Martine Lynch, who is paid a salary of €40,906, with a 10% Attraction Allowance.

The total cost of overtime incurred to date in 2008 for these officers is €3,442.90. No expenses have been paid to staff in this office in the year to date.

1996 STAFFING

Minister's Office (including constituency office)

Civil Servants

1 Programme Manager

1 Private Secretary

3 Executive Officers

7 Clerical Officers

2 Clerical Assistants/ Typists Non-Civil Servants

1 Special Adviser

1 Personal Assistant

1 Personal Secretary

Policy Unit

Civil Servants

1 Principal Officer level

Non-Civil Servants

1 Senior Research Assistant

1 Research Assistant

2 Research Assistants (Part-time)

1 Administrative Assistant

Minister of State's Office

Civil Servants

1 Private Secretary

2 Staff Officers

3 Clerical Officers

3 Clerical Assistants/ Typists

Non-Civil Servants

1 Personal Secretary

1 Personal Assistant

2 Civilian Drivers.