Nobody working in a public service organisation is exempt from pay cuts
imposed under financial emergency legislation, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe has said.
The Minister also stated public service personnel should neither report to nor be accountable to senior managers who are not public servants themselves in State-funded bodies.
Separately the Minister for Health Simon Harris told the Dáil that payments made to managers by any State-funded voluntary hospitals or health agency - which are known as Section 38 organisations - that exceeded public pay rules would have to be paid back.
The comments by Mr Donohoe and Mr Harris could have significant implications for the St John of God organisation, a public service Section 38 body funded by the HSE that is at the centre of controversy over payments to executives.
Last week, John Pepper, group chief executive of St John of God organisation said his salary was €182,000.
The organisation said because Mr Pepper left the public service in December 2013 the financial emergency legislation, known as Fempi, did not apply to him.
The trade union Siptu on Monday sent a series of questions to Mr Donohoe asking about possible exemptions to the Fempi legislation.
Speaking on Tuesday the Minister said: “I expect and the Government expects fairness and the clear application of Fempi.
“I do expect the people on low and middle incomes in the public and civil service will see that those who are on higher incomes will have the same legislation applied to them in the way the Government intended.
“My department has granted no exemptions to anybody from the Fempi legislation for that very reason.”
Mr Donohoe said he and the Government expected “the clear and transparent application of the Fempi legislation to everyone working in the civil and public service”.
Asked as to whether public service personnel should be reporting or be accountable to people who were outside the public service, Mr Donohoe replied: “No”.
A spokesman for St. John of God Community Services said it was the largest publicly -funded entity of the Saint John of God Hospitaller Ministries in Ireland. He said its employees and managers reported to the chief executive of Saint John of God Community Services.
" The CEO of St. John of God Community Services, Clare Dempsey, is the senior representative for the organisation with the HSE and other such bodies in Ireland. In the governance structure for the St. John of God Hospitaller Ministries, the CEO of St. John of God Community Services reports to the Board of St. John of God Community Services, with a secondary reporting relationship to the group CEO. The Group CEO, has a role that also includes extensive responsibilities in and outside Ireland including Britain, The Netherlands, Africa and the United States. This is a standard governance and management structure for an international organisation."
The HSE said last Friday it did s not consider the St John of God organisation to be compliant with public pay policy in the light of recent disclosures about remuneration to senior staff.
It also said it considered St John of God to be in breach of public service pay rules if, as stated last week, it was currently paying salaries of €182,000 to one senior manager and €125,000 to another.
The St John of God organisation has also been at the centre of controversy over over payments of €1.64 million in 2013 to senior staff including Mr Pepper. .
It said the money was sourced from rental income on properties rather than coming from the public purse and was paid to discharge pension and other liabilities.
