The Government has departed from its pay strategy by expanding the remit of the latest Review Body on Public Sector Pay to include a link between Oireachtas members' salaries and Civil Service grades. The move could see a TD's annual basic pay rise from £38,796 to £54,150.
Both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance have, in recent months, been highly critical of such pay relativities for groups such as nurses, teachers and gardai. Mr McCreevy has said that "cross-sectoral pay relativities has bedevilled public pay".
Documents released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act include a private letter from the Government instructing the review group "to recommend an appropriate Civil Service grade to which the pay of Dail deputies would be linked for the future and the proportionate relationship that the remuneration of senators should have to that of deputies".
In establishing a new relativity between Oireachtas members and civil servants, the Government has acted to implement a key proposal made to the review group by a committee of TDs and Senators.
The review body, chaired by Mr Michael Buckley of AIB Capital Markets, was established in January to advise the Government on general pay increases for senior public servants. The Government has stopped short of determining at what staff or salary level Oireachtas members should enter the Civil Service grading structure. However, TDs have sought to be linked with the Principal Office grade. The higher level for this position currently carries an annual salary of £54,150 - 28 per cent higher than the present yearly basic pay received by the 166 members of Dail Eireann.
Despite the position adopted by TDs, it is possible that the review group could recommend that they are placed on a lower Civil Service grading, such as assistant principal officer, which has a top salary of £42,308.
With a formal linkage of their pay to the Civil Service, TDs may also in the future benefit from the introduction of performance-related pay. The review group will make its pay recommendations based on what it considers have been the increased duties and responsibilities of TDs, and how they compare with the workload of appropriate civil servants.
The documents released to The Irish Times include correspondence from the review group seeking information "on the major changes since February 1st, 1996, in the powers, duties and responsibilities" of TDs, senators and Government Ministers. It also sought details on the number of hours the Dail and Seanad sat for each year since 1996, as well as the number of Bills passed. In 1999 the Dail sat for 88 days, which involved some 699 hours while the Seanad sat for 74 days, involving 456 hours.