Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

383. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form a detailed breakdown of the name and number of ministerial special advisers in her Department; their annual remuneration; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32752/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Government limits on numbers of advisers are not applicable to the Taoiseach and Tánaiste.

The names and details of the salaries of the two Special Advisers I have appointed are shown in the following table.

As Mr. Edward Brophy was previously employed in the private sector on a salary package that was more than twice the highest point of the Principal Officer (standard) scale, I sought sanction from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for remuneration in excess of the applicable pay scale grade. A single point salary of €127,796 was sanctioned by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform effective from 29 July 2011. This represented a reduction of over one third in Mr. Brophy’s previous salary in the private sector. His salary was reduced to €119,572 per annum on 1^stJuly 2013 in accordance with the Haddington Road Agreement.

Mr. Paul O’Brien was appointed in December 2012. Mr O’Brien was on a salary of €80,051 per annum, the first point of the Principal Officer (standard) scale when he was appointed. However, his salary was reduced in accordance with the Haddington Road Agreement on 1^stJuly 2013. Mr O’Brien progressed to the next point on the pay scale in December 2013.