Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“It’s outrageous that somebody walks from one public sector job to another paid at a rate of £48,000 and can pocket a golden handshake in excess of £40,000 – the first £30,000 of which is tax free. It is no answer to say this is a contractual entitlement. It may be, but Mrs Pengelly is entitled to refuse it.
“The huge severance payment made to Mrs Pengelly will leave a bad taste in the mouth of many members of the public, particularly when one considers that she left a generously paid taxpayer funded job to serve in elected office. These arrangements need urgent overhaul. What has happened to date does nothing to improve the already damaged image of politics in Northern Ireland.
“This case again highlights the need for radical reform of the arrangements pertaining to Special Advisers at Stormont.
“The legislation which I am brining before the Assembly on Tuesday seeks to address something of the abuse of the SpAd arrangements at Stormont. It would see a reduction in the number of SpAds in OFMdFM – which currently has as many as the entire Welsh Government – and would cap SpAd salaries.
“Additionally, it would make SpAds fully subject to the Civil Service disciplinary code. Currently SpAds although temporary civil servants are not subject to the disciplinary processes applicable to other civil servants. Even when disciplinary action is recommended against a SpAd the Minister can step in and prevent action being taken – as happened with Stephen Brimstone in the aftermath of the Red Sky scandal.
“Stephen Brimstone too is eligible for a handshake in consequence of the resignation of the Junior Minister at OFMDFM, and, even if reappointed he gets to keep the percentage covering the weeks he was out of office.
“Such cosseting of SpAds,a t the taxpayers’s expense, needs to stop.”