THE SIX MINISTERIAL advisers whose salary breaches the cap imposed by the government have been revealed in an answer to a parliamentary question.

Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin revealed the six advisers to ministers – three from Fine Gael and three from Labour including himself – in answer to a question put down by Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald last week.

Despite the salary cap being introduced by the Minister last year for special advisers as well as CEOs in semi-state companies who could not earn more than €250,000, Howlin has sanctioned the breaching of it eight times including for the recruitment of chief executives for the ESB and VHI.

The issue of ministerial advisers’ pay breaching the salary cap has been a matter of some debate with Labour Party members reporting that it had come up on the doorsteps during the recent fiscal treaty referendum campaign.

Last week, Education Minister Ruairí Quinn admitted the breaching the cap was a mistake but said that the government would not be revisiting the decision to do so when it came to remuneration for advisers next year.

Here are the Ministers, the names of their advisers and their pay: