Watt a pay rise
€91k wage increase will put the next Department of Health supremo on ‘Celtic Tiger’ salary of €292k a year
SALARY levels for top civil servants are bringing the era of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ to mind, Public Accounts Committee vice-chair Catherine Murphy has said.
Ms Murphy was commenting on a €91,000 pay rise for the next head of the Department of Health – although they’ll still earn €50,000 less than the head of the HSE.
The salary for the chief executive of the restructured Health Service Executive, Paul Reid, is €350,000 per annum — twice as much as that of his nominal boss, the Minister for Health.
The €91,000 increase means the next secretary general of the Department of Health will earn €292,000 – the same as the head of the Central Bank.
Secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Robert
Watt is favourite for the position.
This week he was made interim secretary general of Health pending the competition. His existing salary as Department of Public Expenditure salary of €211,000 per year – €10,000 more than the departing secretary general at Health.
In his previous public expenditure role, he was sharply critical of pay scales in the HSE.
Should he secure the post, Mr Watt can be consoled by the happy fact that he will be earning more than the current rate of €263,000 a year for the head of the British NHS.
The increase was criticised by the Opposition, with Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane saying: ‘The HSE and depart
mental top brass are securing wage increases that are multiples of what frontline workers are earning.
‘High earners are setting an abysmal example for workers such as student nurses, who are battling and contracting coronavirus, and apparently only worth €100 a week in their eyes.’
Mr Cullinane added: ‘The optics are very poor and display a total lack of empathy.’
Co-leader of the Social Democrats Ms Murphy said: ‘I had anticipated the salary levels for the secretary general would be pitched at the same level.
‘I was astonished by the increase. It needs to be explained and justified.’
Previously, the salary levels for secretary general were in the second tier of €201,000 – with departments such as Finance attracting a €211,000 salary.
Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said: ‘We need to display some common sense. All that you need is an ounce of common sense to realise that this is unacceptable.’
This, he said, was especially the scenario where we are ‘left with childcare workers and student nurses earning barely above the minimum wage’.
In a rare display of Sinn Féin / Labour unanimity, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said ‘I agree with Pearse… stories like this do not help the narrative.’
Mr Ó Ríordáin also warned such actions were unwise against a backdrop this week in which, he said, he had ‘seen a real turn in the people’s attitude’.
Junior Health Minister Mary Butler, in a response that will not be appreciated by t he departing secretary general, said of the salary on RTÉ’s Saturday With Katie Hannon show: ‘Is it because he is worth it? I welcome that Robert Watt is coming into the department, that we have someone who can lead.’
She added to the unconvincing response by saying: ‘I was not trying to justify it. I don’t determine what pay-scale anyone gets.’
Privately, senior ministers such as Mr Varadkar, Stephen Donnelly and Taoiseach Micheál Martin are understood to have been eager for Mr Watt to oversee the Department
‘The optics display a total lack of empathy’
‘The salary reflects the seriousness of position’
of Health.
One senior source said: ‘Heath is a department that needs strong leadership and Watt and Reid will be a good team.
‘It is an experiment worth doing.’ Another source added: ‘The Department of Health and its minister have resembled a branch office of the HSE for too long.
‘It resembles the place careers go to die. Appointing Watt sends a clear rebalancing signal.’
Another senior figure said: ‘There has not been a good story out of Health since Noel Browne. That needs to change.’
They added: ‘The increased salary reflects the seriousness of this position during a pandemic.
‘It is also a signal to a war-weary department that it has to reset and up its game.’