TD SLAMS €6.5M BILL FOR SPECIAL ADVISORS
Mcgrath calls for urgent review into ‘staggering’ salary spend
AT least €6.5million has been paid towards special advisors and press officers by all Government departments since 2017, figures show.
The amount of taxpayer cash being spent has been described as “staggering” and needs to be looked into immediately, Independent TD Mattie Mcgrath has claimed.
The politician is calling for a review of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Instructions to Personnel Officers, specifically those relating to ministerial appointments.
Deputy Mcgrath said: “The replies [to parliamentary questions] I have received today are a source of deep concern.
“They show that in the Taoiseach’s Department alone, a total of 17 advisors have been employed in the last two years, including one communications adviser and four press secretaries.
“Meanwhile, in the Department of Health there are six special advisors currently employed, four of whom are on the standard scale for the grade of principal officer in the Civil Service (€81,661 to €107,548).
“If we compare that to the average salaries a nurse receives – just above €30,000 – then the contrast becomes very striking indeed.
“I think these costs demand further investigation especially when the Government is telling us every other day that there is simply not enough money available to provide ordinary working men and women with better pay conditions.” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar responded to a Parliamentary question about how may advisors he has and said they all play a vital role in his office.
He said: “The special advisors working in my office provide briefings and advice on a wide range of policy matters, as well as performing other functions as I may direct from time to time. “They also liaise with other special advisors in each department so that I am informed. “The Government press secretary acts as a spokesperson for me, as Taoiseach, and the Government and is assisted by the Assistant Government Press Secretary in co-ordinating the media relations of all Government Departments.
“The Deputy Government Press Secretary – who is also based in my Department – co-ordinates communications for all the Independents in Government.
“Special advisors working with Minister of State Helen Mcentee and Minister of State Paul Kehoe are employed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Department of Defence respectively.”
While the Minister of Defence, Paul Kehoe, said he has two advisors.
He added: “I have two special advisers, who are employed in an un-established capacity at the civil service grade of principal, who provide me with advice on policy and communication matters.”