Written answers
Thursday, 21 January 2021
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
Public Sector Pay
Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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100. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will set out each tier of pay scale by amount and tier for all secretary general posts; and the reason tiers exist for the same top ranked position across Departments. [3091/21]
Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I refer the Deputy to the document (TAB A) which details the current levels of Secretary General posts, listed by Government Department.
TAB A - Secretary General Posts
| Level | Secretary General Posts |
|---|---|
| I | Secretary General, Finance |
| Secretary General, Taoiseach / Secretary General to the Government | |
| Secretary General, Public Expenditure and Reform | |
| II | Secretary General, Agriculture, Food and the Marine |
| Secretary General, Enterprise, Trade & Employment | |
| Secretary General, Justice | |
| Secretary General, Health* | |
| Secretary General, Foreign Affairs | |
| Secretary General, Environment, Climate and Communications | |
| Secretary General, Social Protection | |
| Secretary General, Education | |
| Secretary General, Housing, Local Government & Heritage | |
| Secretary General, Transport | |
| Secretary General, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science | |
| III | Secretary General, Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media |
| Secretary General, Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth | |
| Secretary General, Defence | |
| Secretary General, Rural and Community Development | |
| Secretary General to the President |
*Revised pay terms will apply to the new appointment to the post of Secretary General in the Department of Health following the conclusion of the recruitment campaign advertised on 8thJanuary 2021.
The gradings of Secretary General posts were informed by recommendations of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector which concluded that, given the differences in terms of job weight between the various posts of Secretary General, a structure of three salary levels was appropriate.
The current salaries that apply to these Secretary General posts are as outlined in Circular 12 of 2020, which is available here:
Revised pay terms will apply to the new appointment to the post of Secretary General in the Department of Health following the conclusion of the recruitment campaign advertised on 8th January 2021. This reflects:
- That the post of Secretary General in the Department of Health is a highly complex one with a very challenging brief, particularly so in the midst of a global pandemic.
- The role will require an individual with the ability, ambition and experience to take on this large portfolio with a Department of almost 600 staff and 19 non-commercial state bodies under its aegis, including the HSE and a sector employing over 125,000 people.
- The very significant responsibilities attached to this role including: the ongoing management of the response to the COVID public health emergency; the COVID vaccine rollout programme in the immediate term; implementing the Government’s ambition for the rollout of Sláintecare; and the management of the greatly increased budget of €22 billion for Health in 2021. The responsibilities are outlined in detail in the advertisement booklet, which is publicly available at the link below:
- That a salary of €292,000 is commensurate with the scale of these responsibilities and the unique challenges attached to this role, not least at the current time.
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