Madam, - At first, I was as aghast as everyone else at Bertie Ahern's self-awarded 14 per cent increase, bringing his annual salary to an eye-popping €310,000. But then I asked myself what were the most important deliverables of any government to its people. They are first security, then prosperity. By contrast, the rest is either details or trivia.
In terms of security, Ireland over Mr Ahern's decade has neither been invaded nor suffered terrorist attack. And though the crime rate has risen, it still stands comparison with other countries.
As for prosperity, the Celtic Tiger has been flying for a decade, outstripping nearly everyone in Europe and elsewhere. Across the world it has become a model to be emulated. Its economic boom and feel-good factor are everywhere to be seen and felt. And for this, surely Mr Ahern and his ministers can claim a modicum of credit and deserve some reward. They have helped shape the environment and conditions that fostered the extraordinary growth.
So although Mr Ahern's new salary makes him better paid than any other executive leader in the developed world, it should be linked to the GDP-per-person that he has delivered, as this is a very good indicator of the population's average income, the one thing most of us care most about. And on this comparison, he is not greedy at all.
He collects 10 times Ireland's GDP per person, which is comparable to Australia's John Howard. But Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy are each paid 12 times their respective GDP figures.
At the top end of the scale is Singapore's Lee Hsien Loong, who is paid a whopping 60 times. And at the bottom? George Bush with a factor of only nine.
So maybe we shouldn't be griping about Bertie's rise after all. Because he's worth it. - Yours, etc,
TONY ALLWRIGHT (not a member of Fianna Fáil), Killiney, Co Dublin.
Madam, - The most striking feature of the recent furore about the pay increases awarded to the Taoiseach and his ministers must be the deafening and Trappist-like silence of the two Green Party ministers.
The shamelessness and opportunism of Fianna Fáil has been well demonstrated over many years. That of the Greens is more recent but every bit as galling. If this issue had arisen six months ago, before they had entered government, Messrs Gormley and Ryan would have been apoplectic with the moral outrage and self-righteousness which they were well accustomed to displaying in public. Now, both of these men, through their reticence to comment publicly on this and other issues, seem to be practising some bizarre and novel form of energy conservation.
I think that the two Green ministers, with all their vacillations since they have taken office, have quickly discovered that when government is far away its hills are always greener. - Yours, etc,
DAVID DOYLE, Gilford Park, Sandymount, Dublin 4.