REMUNERATION PAID TO MINISTERS

Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Finance if he will furnish details of all remuneration paid to each and every Cabinet Minister, Minister of State and Parliamentary Secretary for the year 2000 showing differently the basic salaries and other amounts paid by way of allowances, etc.

Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau: Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his Ministerial statement on "Civil Service NWC Award, Public Sector Salary Revisions and Review of Salary Benchmarks" in Parliament on 29th June 2000, and in the two-day debate that followed, announced and explained the new salary structure and benchmarks for the Administrative Service, Political and Statutory Appointment Holders. He also gave the monthly and annual salaries of key political appointment levels (eg, Prime Minister, Ministerial Range 3 and Ministerial Range 4).

The individual remuneration packages of Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State and Parliamentary Secretaries for the year 2000 were determined by the Prime Minister in accordance with this Ministerial statement. They constitute confidential information that it would not be appropriate to publish. However, the total amounts paid out to Ministers and Ministers of State in Financial Year 2000 were given in the reply to Mr Jeyaretnam's earlier Parliamentary question on 19th April 2001.