Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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710. To ask the Minister for Health if the position of Secretary General of his Department has additional responsibilities or functions given the salary increase; if so, the additional responsibilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23747/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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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 requires an individual with the ability, ambition and experience to take on this large portfolio with a Department of more than 600 staff and 19 non-commercial state bodies under its aegis, including the HSE and a sector employing over 125,000 people.

The post was advertised openly on 8th of January 2021 by the Public Appointments Service on behalf of the Top Level Appointments Committee. There are 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 along with the system of mandatory hotel quarantine; implementing the Government’s ambition for the rollout of Sláintecare; and the management of the greatly increased budget of €22 billion for the Department of Health in 2021. In that context it was considered that the salary of €292,000 is commensurate with the scale of these responsibilities and the unique challenges attached to this role in the period ahead.