Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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580. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide a schedule of advisers, special advisers and seconded civil servants currently working in his Department appointed and or recruited and or in an acting capacity; the roles and responsibilities attributed to each; and the salary scale for the role in tabular form. [20620/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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On the commencement of every Dáil, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform issues guidelines setting out the arrangements for the staffing of Ministerial Offices. The appointment of Special Advisers is subject to section 11 of the Public Service Management Act (PMSA) 1997.

The Guidelines for the 33rd Dáil, which incorporate the principles of section 11 of the PMSA Act, are currently awaiting Government approval. 

The appointment of individual Special Advisers is a matter for each Government Minister subject to the terms set out in the aforementioned guidelines and appointments are subject to formal Government approval.  At this stage, no Special Advisers have been formally appointed to my Department by the Government. 

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform must be notified of the rate of salary to be paid in all cases for Special Advisers. These rates will then be published on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

A significant number of civil servants from other Government Departments are seconded into my Department and are based at HQ and Missions abroad. The roles and responsibilities of secondees are set in line with the business needs of the HQ Division/Unit or overseas Mission to which they are assigned in order to achieve the Department's goals under the Statement of Strategy. The salary scale for the role is based on the salary scale for each grade set by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.  The locations and grades are set out in the table below.