The Cabinet enjoys the services of over 65 civil servants paid nearly € 2 million by the taxpayer to handle queries from their constituents, figures just released show.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern has three civil servants to handle the workload in his legendary Drumcondra constituency office, he told Fine Gael TD, Mr Billy Timmins in a Dáil reply.
Determined not to lose touch with their roots, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, and the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue each have six people on the public payroll for constituency work.
Not to be outdone, the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey has "6.5 members of staff assigned to work in my constituency office" though the split between full-time and part-time workers is not made clear. The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney has four staff to deal with matters from her Dublin Mid-West constituency.
Over in the Custom House, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen has six staff to do the same work. "This complies with Government guidelines on the staffing of such offices," he told Mr Timmons. The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh and the Minister for Health, Mr Martin each has four full-time staff and one part-timer assigned to constituency representations.
The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Ahern has three people in his Department to handle constituency matters, along with two more on the public payroll in his Dundalk constituency office.
The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy equally splits his constituency team: three work from his Merrion Street headquarters, while a personal assistant and a personal secretary handle matters back in Kildare.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith has three civil servants and a personal assistant and a personal secretary to deal with paperwork from his Tipperary North constituency. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell is yet another favouring job sharing. He has seven people sharing five posts to deal with constituency issues.
The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan has four full-time constituency officials, along with one typist for such matters, while two more handle constituency issues for the Government Chief Whip, Ms Mary Hanafin. The Minister for Europe, Mr Dick Roche, has just one person to deal with constituency matters.
