SINN FÉIN finance spokesman Pearse Doherty has criticised the payment of an allowance worth €17,205 to the two Ministers of State who are entitled to sit at the Cabinet table. So-called super junior Minister Jan O’Sullivan, who has responsibility for housing and planning, and Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe, are entitled to the annual allowance.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform confirmed the amount was taxable, after Mr Doherty said Ms O’Sullivan was given €17,205 “tax free annually on top of her €130,000 salary for the simple privilege of attending Cabinet meetings”. The Government can pay the allowance to “not more than two specified holders of the office of Minister of State who regularly attend meetings of the Government” under the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Act 1998 allows, the spokeswoman said.
However, Mr Doherty said the payment was “unwarranted” and showed the Government was out of touch. He said the payment represented more than 1.5 times the amount received by social welfare recipients. “Enda Kenny signed the statutory instrument on the 31st of January which also continued an allowance for the same amount for the chief whip Paul Kehoe,” he added.
