Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 128: To ask the Minister for Finance the salaries and allowances paid to his private secretary and to the Secretary General of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5028/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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In my Department, I understand that although the Secretary General's nominal salary is significantly higher than €200,000, he has gifted the excess to the state on a voluntary basis. The position of private secretary to the Minister is currently staffed in my Department by a civil servant at Administrative Officer level who receives an allowance of €20,685 per annum in respect of the extra duties and responsibilities attaching to the post including extra attendance outside normal hours.

The allowance for private secretaries to Ministers was reduced by 5% on 1 January 2010 under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Act 2009. In December last, it was announced that all Departments will have to achieve a reduction of 5% in the cost of allowances and premium payments in 2012. In this regard all allowances in the public service, including the allowance payable to private secretaries to Ministers, are currently subject to a review led by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.