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FOUR MINISTERS HAVE special advisers whose pay breaches the maximum salary for their roles, new figures have revealed.
The latest list of government special advisers published this week shows the pay rates of 58 different advisers employed to provide advice to different ministers.
A total of seven of the advisers are on pay rates above the peak of the pay scale for their roles.
Special advisers are placed on the Principal Officer scale, which begins at €79,401 and tops out at €91,624.
Special advisers are allowed to receive more than the maximum of the pay scale if the department in question receives the approval of Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
This should only be approved should “the candidate’s existing pay and previous relevant experience to justify the pay rate now sought”.
Ministers Joe McHugh, Paschal Donohoe and Michael Ring each have one adviser who have a salary above the pay scale while Minister of State Mary Mitchell O’Connor has two advisers earning above the pay scale.
Two governmental advisors for the Independent Alliance also receive salaries above the maximum rate on the Principal Officer scale.
The restrictions on salary scale for special advisers do not apply to special advisers to the Taoiseach or Tánaiste.
According to the latest special advisers list, the Taioiseach’s chief of staff Brian Murphy has the highest salary of €157,433.
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You can’t cut cut and cut and expect the same results. This is a pure cause from a cheap government
Yes you can if there is huge inefficiency. The cuts were financially necessary but the reorganisation hasn’t happened. Listen to the various Garda units…..
War on drugs require large large budgets and lots and lots of man in woman in blue. Self feeding and extremely lucrative cycle. ( Not for the taxpayer, user, addict or Guarda of course)
Really really shocked ‘respectable’ families are affected. Who would have guessed people with lots of money dabble in drugs. Keep fighting windmills with all we got, it’s important!!
a sensible drugs policy which keeps profits and victims away from cartels is still many years away
It’s a police service now not a police force. More about PR than fighting crime.
Until you stop criminalising the issue will you see positive results, but that makes too much sense to happen in Ireland.
What?
This is the effect of public sector cuts and no investment in resources for 6 yrs . Government has buried their heads in the sand and pray nothing happens. Not just Guards , firefighters nurses, ,ambluance,prison service,customs,army etc all destroyed because of cuts
Have you done a Rip Von Winkle? The Gardai are an administrative and management mess. Until there is reform it would be madness to put more money in.
They have no support. Not long enough prison terms, no prison spaces( we replaced a jail in cork with 20 less places), and legal lobby are happy as the repeat offenders are their main customers.
Legalise and regulate the trade entirely and offer safe spaces for addicts to go – that will resolve this issue.
Has anyone been around Talbot Street / Gardiner Street lately.
It’s like the zombie apocalypse with the junkies around there.
And how will legalising it reduce the amount of addicts?
It won’t – it will reduce the amount of crime associated though.
How? Junkies will still need to steal etc to afford their fix. Unless it goes on HSE? They can already get methadone.
Until heroin becomes a middle class issue the establishment simply don’t care.
have your say