Shocking Admission, €81,000 Sec Gen Pay Rise Plucked From Thin Air - Tóibín
Speaking at the Oireachtas on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, Aontú Leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín stated that its been admitted today that the €81,000 proposed increase for Robert Watt was just plucked from thin air.
An Teachta Tóibín questioned Martin Frazer on why €81,000 was decided as to the salary increase.
“What was the mechanism used to select this figure? Where did this figure come from? From whom did it originate from. Why not €70,000 or €90,000? What recruitment metric was used”?
The Secretary General of the Dept of the Taoiseach said that there was no recruitment metric used.
To which an Teachta Tóibín replied;
“This is startling. So the figure was just plucked out of the air. People would expect that there would have been a worked out recruitment package that was measured against what was necessary in the international market. But none of this work was done. The Minister just plucked out of the air. That is startling back of the envelop stuff”.
“Especially when you consider the largesse involved. A €81,000 pay increase is incredible most especially in the midst of a global economic shock. More so, if you contrast this largesse with the refusal to pay front line student nurses a salary for their work”.
“Furthermore, that within all the departments in all the world, from which the successful candidate could be selected from, the nominee was chosen from the department in which the decision was made? How can the government or the civil service not see that citizens eyebrows would hit the roof at this. The distance between benefit and decision made is incredibly small”.
“The salary ratios within the Dept of Health are enormous. The highest paid gets more than 12 times the salary of the lowest paid. This is an enormous salary differential, way more than exists in many other EU countries. It must be addressed."
