The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Dáil is to scrutinise public service allowances.
It is to seek information from all public bodies on the level of allowances paid to staff.
It will meet with the Minister for Public Expenditure early next month.
It follows a decision by government earlier this week to cut just one of the 800 allowances paid to existing public servants.
On Tuesday the Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said he would not reach his target of €75 million in savings.
Instead a definite saving of just €3.5 million will be made.
He reviewed all the allowances and decided to cut just one – a payment to officials going abroad to chair meetings.
Public servants will continue to receive payments such as the Garda boot allowance, the Prison Officers Tuck Shop payment and the allowance for local authority workers who cannot eat lunch at their desk.
PAC Chairman John McGuinness says the examination by the Committee will look at the process involved in the review of allowances carried out this year.
Deputy McGuinness said “I accept that in some cases, the term ‘allowance’ is probably inaccurate in that this extra payment should be part of core pay and, where that is the case, the Department should recognise that and revise the pay levels appropriately”.
“In other cases however, the original justification for paying an allowance may no longer apply and we need first of all to identify these historic type payments and secondly to hear from the heads of Departments as to why these allowances should continue to be paid” he added.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) informed the Committee that his Annual Report on the Accounts of the Public Service 2011 will be published on Thursday September 27th.
This Report will determine a large part of the work programme of the PAC for the remainder of 2012 and for 2013.
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