Hi °C | Lo °C TAOISEACH Enda Kenny's salary will drop by almost €15,000 under the terms of the new pay deal, while rank-and-file TDs will take home around €5,400 less per year.
The deal also reduces the wages of all higher earners in the public sector, with the cuts ranging from 5.5pc to 10pc for anyone on more than €185,000.
It means Mr Kenny will now be paid €185,350 – down from €200,000 – and the average backbench TD's salary will drop from €92,672 to €87,258.
However, the cuts are "progressive", meaning Mr Kenny (pictured) will not take a straight 10pc reduction from his €200,000 salary when the changes come into effect from July.
The initial cut of 5.5pc is taken from the first chunk of salary and allowances up to €80,000; 8pc of the portion between €80,000 and €150,000; 9pc on anything between €150,000 and €185,000; and 10pc on earnings over that.
Under this system, Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore will see his earnings drop from €184,405 to €171,305; the Cabinet from €169,275 to €157,540 each; and junior ministers from €130,042 to €121,638.
The changes also take in allowances, and so will apply to the €17,205 top-up payments given to the two junior ministers – Housing Minister Jan O'Sullivan and government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe – who sit at the cabinet table.
Senators will see their pay fall by €34.15, since their wages come in just over the threshold laid down in the new pay deal. Wages for people paid under €65,000 are protected, and senators get €65,621 a year.
The reductions will be greater for Seanad leader Maurice Cummins and Paddy Burke, the Cathaoirleach of the Upper House, who are paid more than normal senators.
The decreases are the first since the Coalition cut pay for all ministers on their first day in power in March 2011.
At the time, the Taoiseach's salary dropped from €214,187 to €200,000; the Tanaiste's from €197,486 to €184,405; a cabinet minster's from €181,283 to €169,275; and a junior minister's from €139,266 to €130,042.
Fall
The latest cuts are a further fall from the peak of the Celtic Tiger, when Bertie Ahern was paid around €270,000 and the Tanaiste around the €230,000 mark, with ministers getting almost €212,000.
President Michael D Higgins' salary will remain at €249,014, after he voluntarily surrendered €76,493 or 23.5pc of his wages when he took office in November 2011.
Irish Independent
