Sinn Fein is 'demanding answers' as to why a senior figure at the Department of Health is set to get an 81 thousand euro pay increase.

The current Secretary General is filling in the role temporarily, while a full time candidate is found.

However the person who takes up that position will receive 292-thousand euro per year, up from the 211-thousand it currently pays.

Galway West Sinn Fein TD Mairead Farrell says this is 'simply wrong' when hundreds of thousands of people are on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment: