Call for salary of lord mayor to be slashed further

By Eoin English

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

THE salary of the country’s best paid lord mayor should be slashed even further, a Fianna Fáil councillor urged last night.

Councillor Tim Brosnan was speaking after publication of Cork City Council’s draft budget for 2010.

It contains figures which show the 2010 payment for the city’s mayor being reduced from just over €102,000 to €94,000 as a result of the reduction in public sector pay announced in the budget.

The payment does not include the €16,000 representational payment to which all councillors are entitled or the cost of a car and driver along with entertainment expenses.

The city council agreed several years ago to link the mayor’s payment to that of a TD.

The proposed reduction reflects the 8% cut in a TD’s pay following cuts announced in last week’s budget.

But Mr Brosnan said there was no good reason why Cork city should have the best paid mayor in the country.

He stressed it was not a personal attack on the current mayor, Fine Gael’s Dara Murphy, but was a criticism on the level of remuneration for the office.

"The lord mayor is the first citizen and should be seen as the first among equals," he said.

"A citizen’s wage could be argued to be twice the average industrial wage — about €80,000. €94,000 is not acceptable, especially when City Hall staff are taking pay cuts."

Cllr Brosnan said he would be seeking a further cut of €29,000 in the payment at next Monday’s budget meeting.

He also said the pay cuts relating to government ministers did not go far enough.

"Their salaries should be cut further and increased in line with their performance in terms of what they do to get the economy back on track," he said.

His comments came after a debate on a motion in which Cllr Brosnan called on Environment Minister John Gormley to cut the mayor’s salary.

"It’s wrong, very wrong, to have it at the level it is at, particularly given the current economic circumstances."

He was backed by Socialist Party Cllr Mick Barry, who pointed out the current mayoral payment was nine times the annual income of a social welfare recipient in 2010.

"When the economy was booming, people in Cork were annoyed at the mega-salary paid to the lord mayor," Cllr Barry said. "I think they will be furious now that the economy is on the skids and people are being forced to tighten their belts.

"There is no excuse for paying a wage like this for what is essentially a ceremonial position."

However, Fine Gael’s Jim Corr said the matter of payment for the lord mayor was none of Mr Gormley’s business.

"It’s our business and our budgetary decision," he declared.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, December 16, 2009