Poor Bertie needs extra €38,000 'to pay for cups of tea'
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Wednesday November 14 2007
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern yesterday claimed he was "poverty stricken" compared to other world leaders because he doesn't get their perks.
After awarding himself a €38,000 pay rise, Mr Ahern said he doesn't get extra benefits like "prolonged holidays, yachts and homes".
Mr Ahern defended himself in the Dail against accusations he was better paid than US President George Bush, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"Most of the people mentioned would not pay for a cup of tea from one end of the year to the other because they have catering staff in their homes and can use jets for social and other occasions. They are not comparable so we should not do so," he said.
"It would not be hard for a member of the media to write a glowing article about how poverty-stricken we are compared to other countries," he added.
But Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny pointed out he had been surprised to see "our small country" was ahead of nearly all world leaders in a recent report by 'The Economist' magazine.
The Taoiseach claimed other world leaders receive all kinds of allowances.
These leaders have less living expenses and enjoy more generous allowances than Irish politicians, he added.
"Not only do most of these people have permanent and weekend residences but they have holiday residences. They have different rules also as they are the beneficiaries of prolonged holidays, yachts and homes. We do not and should not have those regulations," he said.
Mr Ahern admitted the pay hike awarded to him by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration had been "large".
But he complained that an impression was "constantly" being given that the Government dreamed up the increases and implemented them itself.
The reality, he added, is private sector grades have moved up substantially over the past seven years and the pay increase reflects this trend.
He said there were examples of governments that had "pressed back" pay hike recommendations. But none since 1969 have been rejected. Refusing the increase would not make a "whit of difference" and such an action would probably be reported on "page 99 of the newspaper".
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore accused the Taoiseach of having a "hard neck" in asking social partners for wage restraint. But Mr Ahern said the review body was an independent entity and the decision reached was on foot of its assessment.
- Patricia McDonagh
