Cowen: Govt department bonuses 'totally above board'
The Taoiseach Brian Cowen is insisting payments to 100 personnel in the Department of Finance are not bonuses but part of the pay bill.
Mr Cowen has attacked the Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny for comparing the payments to proposed bonuses at AIB that will be blocked by legislation going through the Dáil later today.
A freedom of information inquiry by Fine Gael's Fergus O'Dowd appears to have uncovered a continuing bonus culture in the public service despite a ban being announced in 2008.
But Brian Cowen said the payments to Department of Finance staff were "totally above board" and were incorporated into pay rates in other departments.
The Department of Finance has said the bonuses were paid to assistant principals and principal officers under the 1994 Pay Agreement.
But Deputy O'Dowd said they are "completely unjustifiable" and he has found it hard to get a straight answer on the matter.
Mr O'Dowd said: "Each minister has answered differently, some ministers have 'their representatives' at the meetings where the bonuses are discussed, some ministers didn't know that the bonuses were being paid and other ministers said it is a matter for the public bodies concerned."
