RTÉ RADIO INTERVIEWS:FOUR PEOPLE have been "head-hunted" with a view to succeeding Kevin Cardiff as secretary general at the Department of Finance.
The Minister for Finance confirmed yesterday that 21 applications had been received for the position and said three of the applicants were private sector workers.
“We have advertised a very senior position recently,” Michael Noonan said. “There are 21 applicants: some are from within the service, three are from the private sector and another four have been head-hunted. So we’re not confined to picking insiders for these jobs.”
The closing date for applications was two weeks ago. A date for interviews is expected to be set after the stalemate over Mr Cardiff’s nomination as the Government’s nominee to the European Court of Auditors is resolved at European Parliament level.
Mr Noonan, who made the comments when taking part in the customary post-budget radio interview with Pat Kenny, said budget cuts to supports for young people with disabilities would be revisited. He said the changes were sanctioned by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton “with the absolute best of intentions”.
The budgetary measures outlined on Monday involved new claimants of disability allowance aged under 25 having their payments reduced from €188 a week to €100 for those aged 18 to 21 and to €144 for those aged 22 to 24.
“Joan Burton when she sanctioned this did it with the absolute best of intentions but . . . we will revisit it,” Mr Noonan said.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin also took part in the RTÉ interview yesterday morning. Asked about public anger over the Taoiseach’s sanctioning of a €127,000 salary for a special adviser, Mr Howlin said he was very conscious that people who were struggling were concerned.
However, virtually everybody the Government had recruited in an advisory capacity had “come in at a personal loss” in terms of what they could be earning in the private sector. “People don’t want to hear this,” he said.
One woman who contacted the programme told the Ministers: “I’ve no more to give you. You have pushed me now into fuel poverty and arrears on my mortgage.”
Mr Howlin conceded the reduction in the fuel season was “a hit on people”. An 84-year-old man who phoned the programme asked: “Why did they have to be so mean to cut down the heating allowance?” The man said if the Ministers had “any decency” they would reverse the decision.
Mr Howlin said reducing the fuel season from 32 to 26 weeks was not something the Government had wanted to do. “It increased in the boom times as an additional supplement to welfare recipients but the cost of it is enormous,” he said.
Another caller described Mr Howlin as “the Minister for cuts”.
