Super junior Ministers will have to wait another two weeks to find out if they will receive an extra €15,288 supplementary payment for sitting at the Cabinet table.
Controversy over the payments arose after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar appointed a record four Ministers of State to the role of "super junior Minister" which allows them to sit at the Cabinet table but without any vote in Government decisions.
Legislation has been enacted for each of the first two super junior positions.
Mr Varadkar told the Dáil on Wednesday that he hopes “ to have solid legal advice on that within a couple of weeks”.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin asked during Taoiseach’s questions in the Dáil: “Are you not in a position yet to say which two will get the allowance and which two will not?”
He said: “Why does it have to take three or four weeks to get legal clarity on this? Surely this is a straightforward issue one way or the other.”
Mr Varadkar told him: “What we’re trying to work out is what the law provides for and whether the Chief Whip’s allowance can be treated separately to the allowances paid to the other Ministers of State”.
The super juniors appointed by Mr Varadkar are Chief Whip and Minister of State for Gaeilge, Gaeltacht and the Islands Joe McHugh; Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor; Minister of State for Disability Finian McGrath and Minister of State for Defence Paul Kehoe.
Former taoiseach Enda Kenny appointed three such ministers of state.
Last week Labour leader Brendan Howlin revealed that the super junior payment to former chief whip Regina Doherty was unlawful.
‘Crystal clear’
He said the allowance was being paid on the understanding that it was for her responsibilities as Fine Gael whip. But he said the law was “crystal clear” and “no allowance can be paid to a party whip if the person is a Minister or Minister of State”.
Mr Varadkar acknowledged that while legislation would be necessary for the fourth super junior appointment, it would not be a “priority” for him.
In the Dáil, Mr Martin also took a swipe at the Taoiseach’s achievements in office as a minister.
“Nobody has ever doubted the ability of your staff to promote you in the media but what’s less obvious is the engagement with the hard substance of the policy.”
But the Taoiseach told him “over the past six years 20 pieces of legislation brought from initiation to full enactment”.
He said: “I think is a reasonably good record in terms of actual legislation produced across three departments in six years.”
Asked about his team of advisers and staff, Mr Varadkar said he planned to appoint a chief of staff and this would have to be approved by the Cabinet.
He had not yet assigned policy roles to different advisers. “I’m still trying to figure out what the best way is to employ the people I have working around me.
His predecessor had two assigned to policy roles, one to economics but that position was then not subsequently refilled and then a number on press and other matters.
