merrion street

Minister Howlin stated “this Government supports a strong policy of ensuring that senior public sector managers show leadership on the issue of pay. Since taking office we have introduced a pay cap for the public sector of €200,000. All Secretaries General in the Civil Service fully adopted this from day one.

We are now reforming the Top Level Appointment Committee (TLAC) terms that apply to Secretaries General on retirement. This would apply to all newly appointed Secretaries General with effect from today. Under existing arrangements Secretaries General can retire early with immediate pension, added years and with severance. These practices will end for Secretaries General appointed from now on.

For all future appointments there will be:

No added years

No pension payable prior to the minimum pension age

Offers of alternative posts where Secretaries General are from the civil service and do not have 40 years service and have not reached minimum pension age

No severance pay except in the case where a person is not of minimum pension age or has not been offered an alternative post; then severance of up to one year’s salary applies.

No severance payment where a person is offered an alternative post and refuses.

These actions will result in substantial savings for the taxpayers.”

The Minister added “A balance has to be struck to ensure that the right people capable of taking on the c