Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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344. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the salary amount that was paid to the secretary general of her Department in each of the past ten years. [10177/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that the salaries paid to Secretaries General by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media follow the relevant salary scales set out by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and which apply across the Civil Service.

The current Secretary General was appointed on 20^th January 2024 and is paid on the non PPC Secretary General Level III payscale and the former Secretary General, whose last day of service was the 19th January 2024, was also paid on the non PPC Secretary General Level III payscale.

My Department in its current configuration was established in September 2020. Details of the salary amount that was paid to the Secretary General of my Department since that date are set out in the table below.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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345. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the annual salary of the highest paid employee of her Department. [10178/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that the annual salary of the highest paid employee in this Department is the Secretary General. He is paid on the non PPC Secretary General III payscale at an annual rate of €219,240.

The salary for this position follows the relevant salary scales set out by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform which apply across the Civil Service.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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346. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the date upon which her Department’s former secretary general left their role. [10179/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that the last day of service for the former Secretary General in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media was 19th January 2024.

A new Secretary General was appointed to this Department with effect from 20th January 2024.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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347. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the pension/lump sum entitlements of former Secretaries General of her Department. [10180/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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My Department in its current configuration was established in September 2020. I wish to inform the Deputy that one Secretary General has retired from this Department since that date.

Secretaries General, like other civil servants, receive pension benefits calculated in accordance with the terms of the pension scheme of which they are a member.

The pension entitlements of persons recruited to civil service positions depend on a range of factors, including their individual career history, pay point, date of entry and age of retirement. The value attaching to these terms also will vary from case to case depending on the specific circumstances applying at each retirement.

For example, the pension entitlements of an individual who joined the civil service for the first time after 2013 would be based on membership of the Single Public Service Pension Scheme i.e. pension and lump sum benefits are based on career average earnings and are payable from State Pension Age. In the case of those who are members of a pre-existing (pre-2013) civil service pension scheme, pension benefits are based on total reckonable service and final pensionable remuneration.

The Top Level Appointments Committee (TLAC) Retirement Terms that apply to new appointments to Secretary General posts since October 2011 are as follows:

(i) Newly appointed Secretaries General may at the end of their term of office be offered an alternative appointment in the Civil or Public Service on the same salary, if they were recruited from the Civil or Public Service, on condition that they do not have 40 years’ service and that they have not reached the applicable minimum pension age. Those recruited from outside the Civil or Public Service will not be made such an offer, but will be covered by paragraph (ii) below.

(ii) If the person is not offered a post as in paragraph (i) above, and has not reached preserved pension age, he/she may be offered severance of 1 year’s salary (or salary to preserved pension age if less), with pension payable on reaching preserved pension age. For those who have reached the applicable minimum pension age, superannuation benefits are payable immediately, with no additional benefits and no severance payment.

(iii) Where an alternative appointment is offered, as in paragraph (i) above, but is not accepted, no severance is payable, and pension is payable at the applicable minimum pension age, with no additional pension benefits. Similar arrangements apply where a Secretary General is given an alternative appointment and later retires.

(iv) Pension benefits of Secretaries General who are members of the new Single Pension Scheme will be based on career-average rather than final salary, and no enhancements.

Information on the pension entitlements of any individual is of a personal nature. Due to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) around personal data, details of an individual’s pension entitlements cannot be provided.

Further information of public service pension schemes is available at: www.publicservicepensions.gov.ie/en/