The Labour Party has claimed the staffing costs for the three new Ministers of State proposed by the Taoiseach will be in the region of €1.2m per year.
In a statement, the party's Environment Spokesperson, Eamon Gilmore, said a series of parliamentary questions he asked last year showed that the average cost of staff employed in the offices of Ministers of State was around €445,000.
This covered their private and constituency offices, both staffed by civil servants, political advisors or press officers, and two civilian drivers employed for them by the State.
Deputy Gilmore said the areas mentioned by Mr Ahern in his RTÉ interview yesterday, including immigration and the elderly, were very worthy, but could have been covered by a reshuffle of responsibilities among the existing Ministers of State.
He claimed that between 15 full Ministers, 20 Ministers of State, and a range of Committee Chairs still to be appointed, at least half of the Government deputies would hold additional salaried positions at the expense of the taxpayer.
