Govt 're-hires dozens of retired civil servants'
It has emerged that the Government is re-hiring dozens of retired senior civil servants, including some who retired as recently as 10 weeks ago.
The scale of the re-hiring was identified by the Fianna Fáil spokesperson for health, Billy Kelleher during Dáil questions last week.
It is understood the chief medical officer for the Department of Social Protection is now back in his job on a salary of more than €100,000 a year, after his retirement earlier this year.
The Department of Agriculture had rehired 59 retired veterinary members of staff for meat inspection duties.
Several government departments say rehired staff have been subject to the "abatement" principle, where the sum of their pension and salary does not exceed a full-time salary for the same job.
However, Fianna Fáil's public expenditure spokesperson Seán Fleming said that many re-hired civil servants had received tax-free lump sum payments for retiring, only to return on the equivalent of a full weekly salary.
