TDs advised: don't forget your payslip if you want to go to work

DÁIL SKETCH:BRIAN LENIHAN has invoked the L'Oreal (because I'm worth it) defence for the salaries of Ministers and top public servants.

As he introduced the legislation to cut ministerial salaries “substantially” (6 per cent for the Taoiseach), the minimum wage (11 per cent) and public sector pensions (4 per cent), the Minister for Finance said executive pay levels were pegged against a number of other countries. They were not named however.

So taking a guess – did it include France? Well Nicolas Sarkozy who governs a population of 62 million earns €231,972.

Angela Merkel is chancellor of 81.8 million and has an annual salary of € 220,000, while David Cameron is prime minister to 61.8 million and brings home £142,000 or about €170,000.

When the Bill is passed the Taoiseach, chieftain of 4.45 million, will be reduced to €214,000. Of course, the poor man is down from a high of €285,000 in 2008. That became €257,000. Then €228,000 in January 2010. So it’s 20 per cent or 25 per cent if you count the pension levy, and the Minister is indeed counting that.

And along with that Ministers took a 19.5 per cent cut or €60,000, including that accursed pension levy. They “were fully prepared to shoulder an additional burden”.

But there is evidently not enough appreciation in some begrudging “sections of the print and electronic media”. They promote a short-sighted view that “talented people should somehow take up the responsibilities of public office on a voluntary basis”.

He keened: “Let me be clear, governing this country is a difficult and complex job, both in good times and in the very bad times we are experiencing now. Those who do carry out these tasks in the public interest should get paid appropriately for it.”

And of course Ireland is a country with a budget surplus, a fully-functioning banking system, no IMF-EU overlords and full employment.

This €14,000 reduction for the Taoiseach, €11,000 for the Tánaiste and €10,000 for Ministers is greeted “with a great deal of begrudgery ” that he could not allow go unchallenged. Some things, however, are always best left unchallenged.

But he was not alone. Fine Gael finance spokesman Michael Noonan also invoked the béal bocht. He too was astounded at people’s belief that TDs had not been cut in the Budget.

He spelled out the financial burden of 28 per cent cuts in the past two years, a new PRSI rate of 4 per cent, and with the abolition of increments some TDs could be losing 10 grand.

Deputy Noonan’s solution? Well, a colleague told him that he was challenged by some pensioners who felt that if TDs took a pay cut that would balance the budget. The deputy took his payslip from his pocket and the pensioners were amazed that a “gross salary of approximately €8,000 ended up being slightly less than € 4,000”.

That told them, so it did.

“All argument died once they saw it” and it was recommended that in future no TD should leave home without their payslip.