The Opposition has strongly criticised the decision of the Government to accept increases of between €25,000 and €38,000 for Ministers as part of a review of top-level pay, writes Martin Wall, Industry Correspondent.
Fine Gael said it proved the Government was "drunk from power and detached from reality". It said that it would have refused to accept the increases if it was in office.
The Taoiseach is to receive a pay rise of more than €38,000, bringing his salary to €310,000 per year, under the terms of the report of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration which was accepted by the Cabinet earlier in the week.
The Minister for Finance Brian Cowen will see his salary rise by 15.6 per cent to €270,000 under the review-body proposals.
Pay levels for other Cabinet Ministers will increase by 12 per cent to €240,000 while the salary of a Minister of State will also rise by 12 per cent to €165,000.
Senior civil and public servants, semi-State chief executives, judges, the heads of universities and the Garda Commissioner will also see their pay increase significantly under the review.
However, 200 senior officials in director of services posts in local authorities and local health office managers in the Health Service Executive will get no increase.
Overall 1,600 top-level figures in the public sector covered by the report will see their salaries increase by on average 7.3 per cent.
The increases, which will be introduced in three phases up to March 2009, will cost the exchequer about €16 million.
The increases were not as high as they could have been as the review body decided to discount the new salary scales by 15 per cent to take account of the superior value of public-sector pensions.
The review body found the pay of many senior public-service posts was below private-sector levels even when allowance was made for the superior value of pensions.
"However, the position varies among different groups. The salaries of the largest jobs such as secretaries general (of Government departments), the Dublin City Manager and the Garda Commissioner are very much behind private sector levels," the report states.
The report recommended that the existing performance-related bonus scheme in the public service be extended to cover secretaries general of departments, the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces and the Garda Commissioner. The Cabinet deferred a decision on this.
The report set a salary level of €303,000 for the chief executive of the HSE, much less than the amount paid to Prof Brendan Drumm under his personal contract.
Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton said: "at a time when we are suffering from health cutbacks, record murder rates, crowded schools and are told that there are tough times ahead it beggars belief that the Taoiseach and his Ministers will award themselves €38,000 and €25,000 in extra pay.
"The pay awards are poor value for money. These are the same Ministers who in 2002 promised to end waiting lists, deliver primary classes of under 20, and 2,000 additional gardaí. They failed to perform and are now giving themselves hefty salary increases."
The Labour Party said it supported the principle of an independent public pay body for senior public figures although it said that it was difficult to understand the huge increases for Ministers. "Low-paid workers who have been restricted under Towards 2016 to an increase of just 10 per cent over 27 months will wonder in particular how the Taoiseach can merit an increase of 14 per cent, bringing his salary to €310,000," it said.
Sinn Féin said the Taoiseach's €38,000 increase was itself higher than the average industrial wage.
US president George Bush is paid about $400,000 (€280,000) while the British prime minister receives £187,000 (€268,000).