The salary of the highest-paid civil servant in the history of the Irish state was not benchmarked against the pay of similar roles in other countries, a committee has been told. Robert Watt’s salary became the subject of scrutiny when it emerged that he would receive a package of €292,000 for his role as secretary general in the Department of Health. His salary is €80,000 more than secretary generals in other departments. Watt, who had previously worked as secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, has waived the increase until the economy recovers and the unemployment rate falls. SponsoredMartin Fraser, the secretary general at the Department of An Taoiseach, said that no precedent had been set by increasing the salary for the

Source: The Times June 02, 2021 23:05 UTC