Eamon Ryan has defended the fact that he may appoint up to eight ministerial advisors.
The Minister has appointed two chiefs-of-staff and may hire another six advisors across the two Departments he heads and for his office in the Department of the Taoiseach.
The jobs will command a salary of between €87,000 and €101,000 each.
It comes as there's been criticism of Dáil approval of legislation for three super junior ministers to get an extra €16,000 a year, bringing their salaries to over €140,000.
But Minister Ryan has defended his decisions: