Adams will not take ministerial salary if elected to government

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said he will not take a ministerial salary if elected to government.

Speaking on RTÉ radio on Monday, Mr Adams said he wanted to see Sinn Féin in Government and he would like to become a Minister in that government if that was what the party desired.

“I will not take the ministerial salary. I believe in leading by example and so I will take the average wage,” he said.

Asked about Thomas "Slab" Murphy and if a person could cheat on their tax obligations and still be a good Republican, Mr Adams said: "He denies cheating on his taxes. Everybody should pay their taxes whether they are a multi-national, Thomas Murphy or anybody else".

Asked how much would be raised by the party’s proposal to impose an extra 7 per cent tax on incomes over € 100,000, Mr Adams said he did not have that figure to hand. He said the interview was not a “pub quiz”.

Sinn Féin had put forward 220 costed proposals which are a plan for a sustainable economic recovery that would restore public services, he said.

Mr Adams said getting rid of Irish Water and the family home tax would put between € 400 and € 500 back into people's pockets. He could not give a cost for savings to be made by stopping the metering system as the Department of Finance could not provide the figures.

He was questioned about the denial by the family of Brian Stack, a prisoner officer in Portlaoise prison who was murdered in 1983, that at no stage had they provided the names of two Sinn Féin members who could have been involved in the crime to Mr Adams, as he has said in the past.

Mr Adams said he had met Austin Stack, a son of the murdered officer, and other family members on occasions.

“He gave me a number of names, for example, he gave me the names of Republicans who had been in Portlaoise prison at the time when his father was there. He did give me the names of two members of Sinn Féin who he said had involvement and told me he had been given those names by the gardaí.”

Mr Adams said he had told Austin Stack it was improbable he or members of his family could meet with members of the IRA involved in the crime. He had spoken to one republican but this man said he had nothing to do with the crime and did not wish to meet Mr Stack.