Coalition TDs hire party councillors as assistants
GOVERNMENT TDs and senators have hired the most councillors for taxpayer-funded assistant jobs, the Irish Independent can reveal.
As intense scrutiny on political pay and perks continues, it has emerged that 35 councillors have been hired by TDs and senators across the political spectrum to work as either a parliamentary assistant (PA) or secretarial assistant (SA).
Of these, 22 are Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or Green Party councillors, making up almost twothirds of local politicians employed. The jobs are on top of their part-time roles as city or county councillors and come with a salary of between €41,000 and €52,000 (for a PA) and between €24,000 and just under €47,000 (for an SA).
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GOVERNMENT TDs and senators have hired the most councillors for taxpayer funded assistant jobs, the Irish Independent can reveal.
As huge scrutiny on political pay and perks continues, it has emerged that 35 local authority representatives have been hired by TDs and senators across the political spectrum to work as either a parliamentary assistant (PA) or secretarial assistant (SA).
Of these, 22 are Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or Green Party councillors, making up almost two-thirds of local politicians employed.
The jobs – either based at Leinster House or the TDs’ constituency offices – are on top of their part-time roles as city or county councillors.
The salary scale for a PA is between €41,000 and €52,000 while the pay for an SA is between €24,000 and just under €47,000.
Councillors are paid a salary of €17,060 per year for their local authority work along with unvouched expenses of between €2,286 and €2,667, or vouched expenses up to €5,000.
Some of the councillors said they were appointed after an interview process while others said they worked as a PA or SA before they were elected or appointed to a council.
Fianna Fáil TDs and senators have hired 11 councillors to work in their offices.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has Cork City Council member Mary Rose Desmond working as his PA.
Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath has his brother Seamus – a Cork city councillor – sharing the PA job with another individual.
Cllr Seán Kelly works as a PA for Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl having being hired after an interview process in 2012. He was elected to Louth County Council in 2019.
Westmeath councillor Vincent McCormack shares the PA job with another person in junior minister Robert Troy’s office. He said he was “headhunted” for the job in 2016 and was elected to the council in 2019.
Limerick councillor Catherine Slattery works as an SA for Willie O’Dea. She said the job had been advertised more than seven years ago, she did a successful interview, and she was not a member of Fianna Fáil at the time.
Seven Fine Gael Oireachtas members have hired councillors.
Ray McAdam is Finance Minster Paschal Donohoe’s PA and he was first hired in 2007, two years before he was elected to Dublin City Council. He said he did two interviews to secure the job and has been elected three times since, having “never hidden” that he works with Mr Donohoe.
Wicklow councillor Irene Winters is Higher Education Minister Simon Harris’s SA. She said she applied for the job which was advertised on social media and went through an interview process.
Mayo councillor Ger Deere said he got his part-time SA job with new TD Alan Dillon following an open advertisement by Fine Gael.
Kilkenny councillor Patrick Dunphy has been John Paul Phelan’s PA for almost 10 years having applied with a CV.
Four Green Party TDs have hired councillors.
Limerick City and County councillor Seán Hartigan
works as an SA for local TD Brian Leddin. He said he was interviewed for the job and suggested that it would “be difficult to do the job efficiently if you weren’t a councillor”.
He said it “ties in very well” as a lot of the issues that arise are local and councillors have the ability to deal with them.
Fingal councillor Karen Power – who works as an SA for junior minister Joe O’Brien – said she applied for the job after a public advertisement by the Green Party and was interviewed by a panel.
Erika Doyle – a Wicklow councillor – works as an SA for her husband Steven Matthews. She previously managed his election campaign and she said: “He felt I was more then qualified to take on the role... which will be that of a constituency manager.”
Four Labour Party TDs have hired councillors, including leader Alan Kelly and former leader Brendan Howlin.
Tipperary councillor Fiona Bonfield shares the role of
Mr Kelly’s PA, while Wexford councillor George Lawlor is Mr Howlin’s PA.
Sinn Féin, Social Democrats and People Before Profit TDs have also hired councillors.
Cllr Noel Connolly works as an SA for Kildare South Sinn Féin TD Patricia Ryan having done an interview over Zoom during the pandemic.
Kildare councillor Nuala Killeen has worked as co-leader Catherine Murphy’s SA since she completed an application and interview process in 2012. She said an additional Oireachtas HR application process “verifies that applicants have the skills and competencies”.
People Before Profit’s Tina McVeigh – a member of Dublin City Council – said she was hired by Dun Laoghaire TD Richard Boyd Barrett as a parttime PA after an “open advertising and interview process in 2016 and again in 2020”.
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown councillor Melissa Halpin was hired as Mr Boyd Barrett’s PA.
Dublin City councillor Pat Dunne shares the PA job for Independents4Change TD Joan Collins and has done so since 2011. He said that at that time he underwent a “rigorous vetting procedure conducted by an outside HR firm”.
Other TDs who have hired councillors include Kerry Independent Michael HealyRae, whose son Jackie Jnr is his PA, and Tipperary’s Mattie McGrath, whose councillor daughter Máirín shares the SA role.
The salary scale for a PA is between €41,000 and €52,000