Madam, – Having sat on it for three months, the Government slipped out the latest report by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector in the wake of the Budget. Its approach was to compare Irish salaries with those in Germany, UK, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium and Finland. It found that the Taoiseach’s and ministers’ salaries were the second highest and that salaries of secretary generals were the highest. Even after adjusting for pensions, tax and purchasing power, Irish salaries were still well ahead of most countries. In comparison with Finland (population 5.4 million), the Taoiseach’s salary was 33 per cent higher than his opposite number, ministers were 20 per cent ahead and secretary generals were 52 per cent higher. On this basis, Ireland’s administration has a long way to go to become competitive and the cuts announced in the Budget were merely a first step.
With the Dáil in hibernation, our highly-paid Government should note that the Finnish parliament sits in non-election years for about 150 days a year as compared with just 90-plus for the Dáil.
– Yours, etc,