Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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349.To ask the Minister for Finance the number of political staff employed in his Department, including parliamentary assistants, secretarial assistants, special advisers, drivers and other relevant positions; the number of civil or public service staff seconded to work within his Department or constituency offices; the salaries and job titles of each such person; the duty or role of each, in each of the years 2020 to 2023 and to date in 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[34913/24]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that Parliamentary Assistants and Secretarial Assistants are employed by the Oireachtas rather than by my Department, and as such records below only pertain to positions on the Department of Finance payroll.

The Salaries for these positions may be subject to incremental progression, and pay agreement changes over the course of a calendar year.

In 2020, my Department employed four Special Advisers, four Civilian Drivers, and one civil service secondee working within the Constituency Office as set out in Table A below:

Table A:

In 2021, my Department employed five Special Advisers, five Civilian Drivers, one civil service secondee working within the Constituency Office and one HEO Equivalent fixed term employee working within the Constituency Office as set out in Table B below:

Please note that one of the Special Advisers to the Minister for Finance went on Statutory Leave and one Special Adviser resigned. Both were replaced during 2021. One Civilian Driver left during the year and was replaced.

My Department adhered to the Guidelines for Staffing in Ministerial Offices.

Table B:

In 2022, my Department employed six Special Advisers (as one was on statutory leave for part of the year), four Civilian Drivers one civil service secondee working within the Constituency Office and one HEO Equivalent fixed term employee working within the Constituency Office as set out in Table D below:

Table C:

In 2023, my Department employed three Special Advisers, three Civilian Drivers (one left and was replaced) and one Administrative Assistant. There was one civil service secondee working within the Constituency Office (up to June 2024) as set out in table D below:

My Department adhered to the Guidelines for Staffing Ministerial Offices.

Table D:

I wish to inform the Deputy that in 2024, to date, my Department has employed the following political staff as set out in Table E below.

This comprises six Special Advisers, four Civilian Drivers and one Administrative Assistant. There was two civil service secondees working within the Constituency Offices (one until June 2024).

Table E: