TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny sanctioned a salary of €127,000 for a special adviser despite Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin having argued against exceeding the cap of €92,672.
Former Fine Gael communications director Ciarán Conlon, special adviser to Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, had his salary increased after Mr Kenny’s private secretary e-mailed the secretary general of Mr Howlin’s department in July.
“I wish to convey the Taoiseach’s request for sanction of an annual salary of €127,000 for Mr Ciarán Conlon,” the e-mail stated.
“The Taoiseach understands that the amount involved goes beyond the guidelines but believes that it is appropriate that the sanction requested would be provided in this specific case.”
Mr Conlon had previously e-mailed a personnel officer in Mr Bruton’s department to say the situation was “getting ridiculous” and claiming that the salary level had already “been passed at the very highest level in Govt [Government] Buildings”.
In April, Mr Howlin had indicated he was prepared to sanction the post at a salary of €92,672, with “some scope” for adjustment, but approved the higher salary soon after Mr Kenny’s intervention.
The Government’s stance was outlined in a Department of Finance circular of March, which stipulated special advisers’ pay should be brought into line with the first point of the salary scale applying to standard principal officer positions in the Civil Service.
The five-point scale ranges from €80,051 to €92,672. But a number of special advisers are paid well above the recommended amount, with Government approval. A spokesman for the Taoiseach said: “The rules governing special advisers’ pay allowed the relevant caps to be breached in specific circumstances. That applied in this case.”
