Second increase in four months brings Robert Watt's salary to €298,000
Robert Watt, secretary-general of the Department Health: his salary was agreed at a level €81,000 above the standard pay of the grade when he took over his health role in April of last year. File picture: Gareth Chaney Collins
Department of Health secretary-general Robert Watt has received his second pay hike in just four months, which has moved his salary to just under €298,000.
The can reveal that Mr Watt’s salary, the subject of much controversy in recent times, has risen by a further €2,949 to €297,869 as of February 1.
The secretary-general’s salary was agreed at a level €81,000 above the standard pay of the grade when Mr Watt took over his health role in April of last year, though he initially said he would waive the increase until such time as Ireland’s economy improved.
The latest top-up comes courtesy of the increase to all civil service pay scales under the ‘Building Momentum’ public sector pay deal first agreed in December 2020, which allowed for a 1% salary hike across the board on February 1 2022 via a "sectoral bargaining fund".
The revised salary was revealed to Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy in response to a parliamentary question she had tabled on the matter.
“The secretary-general is in receipt of the approved pay scale for the post, which has one point only,” Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said in his reply.
“Building Momentum provides for an increase to all civil service pay scales on February 1, 2022, under the sectoral bargaining provisions… of the agreement,” he said.
“Reflecting this adjustment, the rate for the post of secretary general in the Department of Health with effect from February 1, 2022 is €297,869.”
The Opposition has been scathing in its criticism to this latest pay increase, saying it will drive the public’s cynicism about the elites who run this country.
Finance Committee chairman John McGuinness described the increase as “truly outrageous” and said it is time to “stop this nonsense”.
Mr McGuinness said there is no reason why Mr Watt should be in receipt of further top-ups when a special case was made for him to be given the €81,000 increase last year.
He said the top rate should only apply to this “stand-alone” role and when we vacates that role, he should drop back down to his previous salary of €211,000.
“It is truly outrageous. Michael McGrath needs to get a grip on this and put an end to it. Watt should not be included in the pro-rata increases given the €81,000 increases he got last year,” he said.
The Oireachtas Finance Committee also agreed in private session this morning to re-examine the 1926 Secretaries Act, which governs the legal status and performance of civil servants on foot of the Watt controversy.
Catherine Murphy, co-leader of the Social Democrats told the that far from being an isolated special case, the new salary for Mr Watt has created a new scale for top tier civil servants which is now “embedded” in the system.
She said such increases should not be happening as the rationale for the original €81,000 increase for Mr Watt was that this was an exceptional role.
“This role should not be included in the normal public service given the questionable rationale for its creation. But we know now this is embedded into the system,” she said.
"Just look at those in the Defence Forces who are relying on welfare benefits to support their families.”
Ms Murphy said this latest increase will have “significant knock-on consequences” for top-level pay in the civil service.
She also called on Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath to respond to the recent joint report of the Oireachtas finance and public accounts committees to ensure top-level pay does not explode.
Mr Watt had for some time recently declined to reveal whether or not he was continuing to waive his increased salary.
That changed last week with his admission he is now in receipt of the full wage after three senior ministers said the matter is one which should be fully transparent.
Last week, the Public Accounts Committee agreed to ask Mr Watt when he first began to take the full salary, and also to ask the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to change the accounting structure of State bodies so that full transparency can be achieved in terms of how the top officials are paid.
Mr Watt has thus far not revealed when he first began to take the higher salary.
At present departmental appropriation accounts do not detail the remuneration of top officials, in contrast with standard practice of doing so in private industry.
Speaking to the Oireachtas Finance Committee, Mr McGrath said it is “none of his business” to know when Mr Watt stopped gifting part of his increased salary to the State.
“I don't have that information and nor do I tend to seek down information from any individual because it's not of my business, quite frankly. But I think it is certainly my role to ensure that we have a robust system for the recruitment and the selection of people to fill key posts. In the civil service and senior levels across the public service,” he said.
He said he will establish an external review panel to examine top-tier appointments in the civil service, but stopped short of establishing another higher remuneration review group, which previously recommended very high salaries for top civil servants in 2007 and 2008.
“I'm not committing today to the establishment of a higher remuneration review body which is what you have sought, because I think we need to take this through very carefully and the external pattern that I'm setting up no will advise me the coming months as to what they think is the best course of action, and I will then take that on board and make a decision. Minister, I just need to move on and to vote,” he said.
He said was looking to do this on foot of a scathing 280-page report produced by the joint finance and public account committees.
“Having considered the matter carefully, it is my intention to propose that there would be an independent external review panel established,” he said.
One of its tasks would be to make recommendations to strengthen the recruitment process for Senior Public Service posts, including at the top of the civil service, and also a number of key public service posts.
It would also to make recommendations in relation to the area of the process of determining the terms and conditions of employment associated with such posts, he said.
He said the salary that was sanctioned in December of 2020 was for the post of Secretary General in the Department of Health. There then followed an open competitive process, which was administered by the top-level appointments committee and there were a significant number of applicants, including a number of international candidates who put themselves forward, Mr McGrath said.
Responding to questions from Sinn Féin’s Mairead Farrell, explaining the latest pay increases, Mr McGrath said: “We do have a public service pay deal in place called building momentum. It involves in essence, three single 1% increases over a two-year period that will be paid at the end of the current year.”
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