'No penny pinching' over cybersecurity chief's salary, Oireachtas committee told

Minister says pay will be higher than €127k previously advertised but unlikely to reach €300k that experts recommend

Minister of State for Public Procurement and eGovernment Ossian Smyth addressed the Transport Committee on Ireland's cybersecurity capabilities. File Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

There will be "no penny-pinching" in the appointment of the head of the National Cyber Security Centre — but the salary is unlikely to reach the €300,000 figure suggested by experts, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

Minister of State for Public Procurement and eGovernment Ossian Smyth addressed the Transport Committee on Ireland's cybersecurity capabilities and said that reports that the original offered salary was €89,000 were not accurate. 

Mr Smyth said that it was also not true that 29 people were providing Ireland's cybersecurity on a budget of €5m. 

He said that the range offered was €106,000 to €127,000 and a successful candidate had decided not to take the job "for personal reasons" around three months ago.

On Tuesday, cybersecurity recruitment expert Bláthnaid Carolan said that this figure is not enough to compete with private-sector salaries. 

She recommended a salary of between €220,000 and €290,000, with a benefits package of €150,000-€200,000.

Mr Smyth said that figure was "far in excess" of salaries paid to any other cybersecurity centre head in a country of comparable size. 

'Not comparable'

He said that the Irish role was not comparable with private sector cybersecurity roles and that it would take in diplomacy and government oversight and "is not a purely technical role". 

He said that he would be revising the salary to be "considerably higher" than the €127,000 previously advertised.

"We will be offering a higher salary, I haven't decided so I'm not going to give what the range is, but it's certainly going to be considerably higher than was offered before.

"It won't be my sole position. I'll go back to the Minister for Public Expenditure and discuss it with him, then it will go Government. 

It will take into account what you would expect to be paid to do the job in a similar-sized country.

Mr Smyth said that he expects the role to be advertised "in the next few weeks".

However, the junior minister said that the NCSC has had its budget ramped up in recent years and said that a per capita comparison with the UK was not apt because the two countries have "very different contexts" in regards to cybersecurity.

Mr Smyth said that the HSE cyberattack was "not proof that there was something fundamentally wrong" with Ireland's capabilities.