Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 234: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will apply the €200,000 public service salary cap, which is the current salary for An Taoiseach, to all employees in the education sector; the number of public sector employees in the education sector whose salary and allowance currently exceed €100,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28656/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Government has decided that a salary ceiling of €200,000 will apply to future appointments to senior positions across the Public Service. Since becoming Minister I have written to the Chairpersons of University Governing Bodies requesting them to ask all relevant individuals, including Presidents, who earn in excess of €200,000, to make voluntary waivers of salary. While two individuals, one of whom is a university Head, have agreed to make personal arrangements with their employer regarding a deduction of the amount of salary over €200,000, there have been no voluntary waivers made for the benefit of the State. I cannot enforce a voluntary waiver nor can I insist that a waiver, if made, follows any particular format. For example, if an employee chooses to waive a portion of his/her salary in favour of a charity or their employer they are free to do so. Based on the most recent data available, there are 1,631 public servants in the Education Sector whose remuneration currently exceeds €100,000.