Irish Examiner view: Salary row over senior public appointment is a red herring

Robert Watt.

In recent days two significant public appointments were announced while a third, and the terms attached to it, provoked some discussion, not all laudatory. 

Anne Marie McMahon and Shawna Coxon were named Garda deputy commissioners. This is the first time both posts were filled by women. 

Welcome as that may be, the fact that Ms Coxon has come from Canada is even more so. It must be hoped that she, just as Commissioner Drew Harris did, encourages the badly-needed evolution of Garda culture. 

These officers will carry some of this society’s most onerous responsibilities and be paid under €170,000, a figure that would not make the top 10 Irish single farm payments.

In recent weeks, Robert Watt was named Department of Health secretary-general. 

His salary of €292,000 stirred outrage, although he will be responsible for remaking a dysfunctional department that costs this society of fewer than 5m souls almost €20bn a year. 

Should he succeed, he will have earned his corn.

Should he find himself in an RTÉ studio his interrogator, who has no comparable responsibilities, will be paid far more, maybe double his salary. How bizarre is that?

What seems more questionable is that Mr Watt was identified for the position by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, which may have precluded international competition.

Surely, as the appointment of Ms Coxon shows, this and the new perspectives it might bring should have been considered?