Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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615.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide a list of the names of each special adviser employed by her Department since 2020; the Minister and Minister of State whom each advisor is associated with, and their respective salaries, in tabular form; the areas of expertise covered by such advisers; and if she will make a statement on the matter.[34928/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The following link contains the information requested by the Deputy for the years 2020 to 2024.

The salary scale for Special Advisers to a Minister is the same as the Civil Service Principal Officer pay scale and the pay scale for a Special Adviser to a Minister of State is equivalent to the Assistant Principal Officer pay scale, as advised under the terms of the relevant pay circulars and the Guidelines for Ministerial Appointments issued by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP, Delivery and Reform. In the event that an appointee is a retired Civil Servant, pension abatement rules apply.

All special advisers assist Ministers and Ministers of State with both policy and media matters.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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616.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the details of the expenses paid to ministerial advisers in her Department in each of the years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter.[34946/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The information sought by the Deputy is set out in the following link for special advisers employed by my Department during the years 2020 to 2024.

There are also two Ministers of State appointed to my Department.

Hildegarde Naughton T.D., Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion in my Department and of the Department of An Taoiseach, has two special advisers who are employed by that Department. Their expenses are claimed directly from the Department of An Taoiseach.

Thomas Byrne T.D., Minister of State for Sport and Physical Education and of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, also has a special adviser, who is employed by that Department. Their expenses are claimed via D/TCAGSM.