Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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There are no civil servants from my Department who receive fees, salary or remuneration for membership of Boards of agencies under the aegis of my Department. In some cases, where meetings would be held away from the normal location of such an officer, travel expenses can be paid in accordance with normal civil service rules. In the case of agencies under the aegis of my Department, I have been advised that in relation to the office of the Revenue Commissioners, Office of Public Works, Valuation Office, State Laboratory, Public Appointments Service and the Commission for Public Service Appointments, there are no civil servants who receive fees, salary or remuneration for membership of Boards of agencies under the aegis of my Department.

The general policy is that public servants should not receive additional remuneration for undertaking other duties in the Public Service, such as acting as directors of state-sponsored bodies or serving on commissions or other such bodies. The principle, usually referred to as the "one person one salary" principle, was first enunciated by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector in 1972, and it has been a feature of the Public Service since then. The policy was most recently restated in a letter to the secretaries general of all Government departments in 2006.

The Review Body subsequently recommended that payment of fees could be sanctioned in exceptional circumstances. This policy has been implemented on the basis that each of the following conditions must be met:

1) that the duties involved are neither a part nor an extension of the officer's normal duties, and

2) that a rigid insistence on the principle of one person-one salary would deny scarce skills to the State, and

3) that payment is permitted for one additional appointment only, and

4) that the approval of the Department of Finance for additional payments is required in each case, and

5) that in no case should payment exceed the normal fee for the activity concerned, and

6) that the duration of such payment should be limited to one term or 5 years whichever is greater.

One civil servant of my Department receives the normal board fee as a member of the board of a State agency which is under the aegis of another Department as that appointment meets these conditions.