Let them eat cake (keep blood pressure medication ready)

Tolka · **Joined:** Mar 23, 2012 **Posts:** 54

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/0704/1224319343446.html

Duisigh · **Joined:** May 28, 2008 **Posts:** 2675

I read it and thought it was on the low side to be honest. Compared to the hushed-up scandal where only a few civil servants were rated on the low side in their annual review , so that everyone could get their increments, its fuckin peanuts.

Kate P · **Posted:** Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:33 am

Quote:

The Department of Foreign Affairs is also paying more than €800,000 per year in allowances to cover the cost of top-up health insurance for its personnel overseas and their dependants as well as in excess of €280,000 in disturbance allowances for diplomats to assist with the cost of returning from posts in other countries.

New details have emerged about the scale and type of allowances given to public service staff both in Ireland and abroad.

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Public Service and Reform Brendan Howlin said last night he would be bringing proposals to Cabinet shortly in relation to allowances.

It also emerged last night that the Department of the Taoiseach is paying a clothing allowance of €444 per year each to a small number of staff in its protocol section and in the Government Press Office.

Press officers in the Department of the Taoiseach also receive an “on call” allowance of five hours’ overtime at double time every week. The Department of the Taoiseach said personal assistants to Government special advisers received a €7,125 annual allowance. The Taoiseach’s diary secretary also receives a €7,125 allowance.

Various Government departments said they were paying allowances of between €14.10 and €45.48 per fortnight on a personal basis to former Revenue Commissioners staff who were transferred some years ago under an integration agreement.

Government departments also said they were paying a special child allowance of just over €2 per week to staff who had been in the Civil Service from before 1978.

The Department of the Environment confirmed that 22 “field staff” had shared nearly €40,000 last year in untaxed allowances for making a room available in their homes for use as an office. It said two people had shared an untaxed payment of nearly €1,000 in respect of an “eating on site allowance”.

Reminds me of Linda Evangelista not waking up for less than 10k a day, only a little less glamorous.

TheJackal · **Joined:** Aug 20, 2009 **Posts:** 1993

There are so many allowances out there, many historical.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Gov went for a unilateral cut of 10-20% for all allowances, stating it doesn't breach Corke Park.

YorkieBar · **Joined:** Oct 25, 2011 **Posts:** 1228

The way to evaluate this would be to benchmark it against what Intel or HP would offer staff if they relocated them for an equivalent time....

I dont think its unreasonable to be expected to financially support a staff member that you are asking to move to a different country for the job, and i dont see why civil servants would be an exception to that.....

ps200306 · **Joined:** Apr 1, 2010 **Posts:** 3745

YorkieBar wrote:

The way to evaluate this would be to benchmark it against what Intel or HP would offer staff if they relocated them for an equivalent time....

I dont think its unreasonable to be expected to financially support a staff member that you are asking to move to a different country for the job, and i dont see why civil servants would be an exception to that.....

+1. Otherwise this article is in danger of being "Shock, Horror! Public servants getting money!". It's all a bit hysterical.

Kate P · **Posted:** Wed Jul 04, 2012 11:25 am

Making a room available to work from home, and getting an allowance for that when there's - presumably, negates transport, eating out and all those 'cost of going to work' expenses the Esri reported on recently.

yoganmahew · **Posted:** Wed Jul 04, 2012 11:46 am

Kate P wrote:

Making a room available to work from home, and getting an allowance for that when there's - presumably, negates transport, eating out and all those 'cost of going to work' expenses the Esri reported on recently.

How do I go about claiming this?

JohnnyTheFox · **Joined:** Oct 20, 2010 **Posts:** 1267

YorkieBar wrote:

The way to evaluate this would be to benchmark it against what Intel or HP would offer staff if they relocated them for an equivalent time....

I dont think its unreasonable to be expected to financially support a staff member that you are asking to move to a different country for the job, and i dont see why civil servants would be an exception to that.....

Agreed. I've seen how some of the Irish diplomatic staff live abroad and I'd describe it as comfortable rather than excessive. In my experience they don't do as well as employees assigned to the same location by multinationals. Paying school fees is not unreasonable either, especially in a non-English speaking country where the only way to provide continuity of education is to enrol in one of the expat oriented international schools.

Quote:

Press officers in the Department of the Taoiseach also receive an “on call” allowance of five hours’ overtime at double time every week. The Department of the Taoiseach said personal assistants to Government special advisers received a €7,125 annual allowance. The Taoiseach’s diary secretary also receives a €7,125 allowance.

This is the kind of crap I would have an issue with. If it is an overtime payment (which this clearly is) then it should be paid and taxed as such and not as a non-taxable allowance. Only genuine incremental out of pocket expenses should be reimbursed tax free.

yoganmahew wrote:

Kate P wrote:

Making a room available to work from home, and getting an allowance for that when there's - presumably, negates transport, eating out and all those 'cost of going to work' expenses the Esri reported on recently.

How do I go about claiming this?

+100. The only way for this to be equitable is if identical treatments are allowed in the private sector. The expense should be tax deductible for the business and not taxable to the employee.

yoganmahew · **Posted:** Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:28 pm

JohnnyTheFox wrote:

Quote:

Press officers in the Department of the Taoiseach also receive an “on call” allowance of five hours’ overtime at double time every week. The Department of the Taoiseach said personal assistants to Government special advisers received a €7,125 annual allowance. The Taoiseach’s diary secretary also receives a €7,125 allowance.

This is the kind of crap I would have an issue with. If it is an overtime payment (which this clearly is) then it should be paid and taxed as such and not as a non-taxable allowance. Only genuine incremental out of pocket expenses should be reimbursed tax free.

Wait, how do I go about claiming this one too?

yoganmahew wrote:

Kate P wrote:

Making a room available to work from home, and getting an allowance for that when there's - presumably, negates transport, eating out and all those 'cost of going to work' expenses the Esri reported on recently.

How do I go about claiming this?

+100. The only way for this to be equitable is if identical treatments are allowed in the private sector. The expense should be tax deductible for the business and not taxable to the employee.[/quote]
+153 (after tax...)

fishfoodie · **Posted:** Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:30 pm

ps200306 wrote:

YorkieBar wrote:

The way to evaluate this would be to benchmark it against what Intel or HP would offer staff if they relocated them for an equivalent time....

I dont think its unreasonable to be expected to financially support a staff member that you are asking to move to a different country for the job, and i dont see why civil servants would be an exception to that.....

+1. Otherwise this article is in danger of being "Shock, Horror! Public servants getting money!". It's all a bit hysterical.

The PS ones are way, way, more generous, & large parts of them are unvouched in the PS, while in the FDI world you have to provide reciepts for amounts down to maybe $25.

I Know From Whence I Speak, as I have worked for an FDI for a number of years, & have a relation in the PS side, & the stories I've heard make my blood boil on occasion. It's the sense of entitlement apart from anything else thats infuriating. One story I heard was about a couple, both very senior Diplomats who were both relocated at the same time, to the same place, & on their return, both of whom demanded their full individual entitlements, just because it worked out as more money, as if they were each individually going to ship their combined goods home. When challanged, there were of course masses of hystrionics about what they were 'entitled to' :evil:

Let them eat cake (keep blood pressure medication ready)

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