Nice little earner for Ahern as he nears top of EU pay list
WE may be one of Europe's smallest countries - but that hasn't stopped Bertie Ahern claiming a leader's salary to rival the biggest.
Only the premiers of Britain and Germany earn more than Bertie Ahern, a new survey of leaders in 11 countries has found.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair may face a battle to stay in 10 Downing St, but for the moment he can console himself that he is the best paid leader in Europe, earning ?268,500 a year.
While German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who rules Europe's largest country with a population of 80 million people, only ranks in second place, earning just over ?261,000. Not far behind them, and highlighted in the report as the best paid leader of a small country, is our own Taoiseach. Mr Ahern takes home ?252,000 a year.
The Taoiseach's salary works out at far more than the premiers of large countries like France or Poland and or even rich smaller countries like Denmark.
And he is paid almost four times the amount earned by Europe's worst paid leader, Slovak Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda who earns just ?39,100.
"Generally speaking, the jobs in the bigger countries (particularly the United Kingdom, Germany and France) tend to be paid higher than those in smaller countries, except for Ireland (where that pay level is above average)," comments the report, which was produced by the Hay Group.
The report also found some variation between the smaller countries.
Pay levels in the eastern European countries are substantially below average."
It also looked at the salaries of ministers and senior civil servants.
Top officials in Ireland come in second place to the UK, with annual pay of ?213,500, equivalent to 85pc of the Taoiseach's salary.
Irish ministers only slip down the ranking compared to their counterparts across Europe.
Labour MEP Proinsias de Rossa said Irish politicians were actually "underpaid".
If pay scales were linked to national economic performances, then Mr Ahern might receive an even bigger payout.
Ireland may be a small country, but it remains amongst the best performing in Europe, according to new forecasts released last night by the European Commission.
It predicts growth continuing at over 5pc next year - around two and a half times more than the EU average, with no major problems on the horizon.
- Conor Sweeney
