Official at centre of Shannon row in line for €60,000 pay rise
THE woman who has accepted responsibility for not passing on to Transport Minister Noel Dempsey the news that Aer Lingus intended scrapping the Shannon-Heathrow services is due for a pay rise of nearly €60,000.
Julie O'Neill is secretary general of the Department of Transport, where Mr Dempsey was left in the dark for six weeks about the switch of the crucial Heathrow landing slots.
Ms O'Neill, in common with all other top civil servants, is due to benefit hugely from the recommendations of the Review Group on Higher Remuneration, published late last week.
She has apologised for failing to tell the minister of the Shannon switch, with Mr Dempsey commenting in response: "It is disappointing that this important information was not brought to my attention in a timely manner."
The secretary general will receive a pay rise of €58,234 in line with the report recommendations -- an increase that is equivalent to the entire annual salary of two people employed at just below the average industrial wage.
Ms O'Neill also enjoys a public service pension that would be practically impossible to fund in the private sector.
Fine Gael has condemned the rise as "outrageous" saying that it should not have been granted.
- Senan Molony Political Correspondent
