TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY appointed 17 staff members to his department with a total cost for this year of almost €1.4 million.

This includes the employment of four special advisers and a chief of staff with a total cost for the year of €557,788. One of of the special advisers was for chief whip Paul Kehoe.

The figures were released by the Taoiseach following a Dáil question from Róisín Shortall TD with Kenny pointing out that the corresponding cost of special advisers was over €1 million in 2010.

Staff members working in the department include:

Four personal assistants to the Taoiseach.

Three personal secretaries to the Taoiseach.

A personal secretary and a personal assistant to the chief whip.

The government press secretary.

Two deputy Government press secretaries and an assistant Government press secretary.

A breakdown of the annual salary for each of the positions is available on the Oireachtas website.

Shortall’s question was originally intended to provide the name and current salary of the political staff of all ministers but the deputy said a misunderstanding led to only the Taoiseach’s department releasing figures. The staff details of the other cabinet ministers are expected to be furnished on Tuesday week.