€41k pension rise for civil servant Watt - if he gets top Health post
And retirement lump sum would be a massive €438k
A CONTROVERSIAL pay hike for the next secretary general of the Department of Health would see the favourite for the job receive a €41,000 a year boost to his annual pension, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Government sources confirmed last night that if Robert Watt becomes permanent secretary general at the Department, along with a boosted salary of €292,000 he will be entitled to a gold-plated pension pot that few others in the civil service can hope for.
In a retirement package that TDs have described as ‘outrageous’, he would be entitled to draw down nearly €600,000 in his first year of retirement and €146,000 every year after that. This consists of a €438,000 lump sum and his annual pension on top of that – bringing it to €584,000 the year he retires.
This compares with the €105,500 annual pension he is currently entitled to from his salary of €211,000 as secretary general at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. His current lump sum – worked out at one-and-a-half times his salary – upon his retirement would be €316,500, meaning he would receive €422,000 in his first year of retirement if he stayed on the salary he is currently on.
Mr Watt – if he gets the Health job – is in the unique position of already being in line for what would be an €81,000 pay increase for moving to a portfolio that has traditionally been ranked in seniority below the one he would leave.
He is one of four secretaries general appointed by the Government in 2011 and he retains pension rights similar to former top civil servant Dermot McCarthy.
Secretaries general more recently are given a pension payout based on a career average salary – as opposed to half the final salary reckoning that Mr Watt will retain his entitlement to.
Back in 2011, at the height of austerity, Mr McCarthy received an overall package worth €713,351, made up of an annual pension of €142,670, a once-off lump sum of €428,011, and a separate special severance payment of €142,670.
Two powerful Oireachtas committees want to quiz all those individuals and departments involved in Mr Watt’s appointment.
A number of ministers have told the Irish Mail on Sunday that there was cursory discussion of Mr Watt’s transfer from permanent secretary general at the Department of Public Expenditure to interim secretary general at the Department of Health.
They say there was no discussion to increase the Health post salary from €211,000 to €292,000.
Chairman of the Finance Committee, FF TD John McGuinness, told the MoS that he will question Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath on this at the committee this week.
Mr McGuinness said: ‘The members of the committee will ask Minister McGrath on Tuesday how this interim appointment came about, who decided on it, who ratified it and we will try and lift the veil of secrecy around it.
‘Similar inquiries will be made about the €80,000 pay increase for the secretary general position at the Department of Health, which of course will see Robert Watt in a good position to be given now.
‘But can the Minister, and the Taoiseach and the rest of the Government justify a €292,000 salary for a civil servant?
‘The pay and the pension entitlements that accrue from this can’t be justified, at any time, but particularly during a pandemic. It’s absolutely preposterous.
‘We will assess the financial aspects, yes, but there is a moral issue here. And that needs to be cleared up too.
‘This behind-closed-doors dealing has to end, and Fianna Fáil can’t be seen to promote it.’
A minister who spoke to the MoS on condition of anonymity said that there was great anger at Cabinet over the appointment of Mr Watt, particularly among Fine Gael and Green ministers.
‘This could be the Fianna Fáil Woulfe,’ said one minister. ‘Micheál Martin, Michael McGrath and Stephen Donnelly are involved in this one. It’s a mess.
‘There was no memo, no advance warning, and no discussion of salary for the post,’ said the minister. ‘Afterwards we were saying to each other “Watt the f***” just happened there. We laughed, but it was bitter laughter.’
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is furious over how it has been placed in ‘handcuffs’ when it comes to chasing after real-time examples of public waste, according to a senior member.
The concern has emerged in the wake of legal advice which warned the PAC that it was ‘compromised’ in its capacity to investigate the proposal to increase the salary of the next secretary general of the Department of Health.
The PAC has yet to receive a response to queries sent to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform over the proposed increase. And despite the public perception of the PAC as being the main instrument of accountability on the state over-spending, it now fears that the Angela Kerins judgment means ‘we have been placed in handcuffs’.
One senior member revealed the committee has been advised ‘we will find it difficult to pursue the issue and this is the direct consequence of the Angela Kerins case’.
This refers to a Supreme Court action by Ms Kerins, former boss of Rehab. In the wake of the Supreme Court criticism of the actions of the PAC, the Dáil moved to place restrictions on committees via new Standing Order 218.
Standing orders are the rules which define what committees can and cannot do.
In the case of Standing Order 218, the PAC is confined to examining existing reports and cannot examine ‘real time’ issues such as the secretary general pay increase without securing permission from the Committee on Procedures and Privileges.
Vice-Chair Catherine Murphy warned: ‘There needs to be a rebalancing. The standing order severely limits what the PAC can do.’
One senior source said: ‘The PAC are nothing more than a historical society examining past events rather than current crises.
‘We have been defanged. The members are not happy.’
‘A moral issue that needs to be cleared up’
‘There needs to be a rebalancing’