Top civil servant Robert Watt confirms he has taken €81k pay rise

Secretary general at the Department of Health Robert Watt received a further rise of nearly €3,000 last October, meaning his salary now stands at €294,920. File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The top civil servant in the Department of Health has confirmed he has taken an €81,000 pay increase.

Robert Watt had come under pressure in recent days to clarify whether he is now taking the pay hike which was controversially awarded to him when he was appointed secretary-general in the Department of Health last year.

The pay bump brought his salary to €292,000, however, Mr Watt had temporarily waived the increase.

The Irish Examiner this week revealed that Mr Watt received a further rise of nearly €3,000 last October, meaning his salary now stands at €294,920.

In a statement the Department of Health said: "The secretary-general has confirmed that he is in receipt of the full salary for his role."

However, the department did not give details of when Mr Watt started taking the full amount.

Speaking this morning, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys said there should be transparency around the wages of senior public and civil servants.

"My wages are there for everybody to see. As far as I know the wages of my constituency staff and the people who work with me are available for everyone to see, and I don’t see any reason why those at the top of the public service, that their wages shouldn’t also be available to people. I don’t see any reasons why they shouldn’t be published," she said.

However, Tánaiste Leo Varakdar said on Tuesday that under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the salaries and pension arrangements of civil servants are a private matter.

Asked what he would do if he were in Mr Watt's position, the Tánaiste said: "I'm definitely not Robert Watt.

"I am a public figure and as is the case for all politicians, our salaries are published and I do make voluntary surrender of 10% a year, but he is not a public figure, he is a civil servant and the rules are different for civil servants and public servants in relation to their salaries."