Taoiseach makes €46,000 above average

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern is the fourth highest-paid prime minister in Europe.

A survey of the salaries of leaders across the continent shows Mr Ahern earns more than the leaders of countries with a much bigger population.

The Taoiseach is on a salary of €231,700 a year - some €46,000 more than the European average.

By contrast, Polish prime minister Marek Belka earns just under €50,000, around two-thirds of the salary of an Irish backbencher.

At the top of the pay league, gathered by recruitment consultants Hay Group, is German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder who is paid €272,400. He may not be earning it much longer, though, with a general election next week.

British prime minister Tony Blair was second with an annual salary of €260,000. He was followed by poetry-loving French leader Dominique de Villepin, who is paid €240,000. Rounding out the top five is Guy Verhofstadt, the prime minister of Belgium, who nets €192,000.

Hay Group said Mr Ahern and Mr Verhofstadt have above average pay levels given the size of the countries.

Compared to the private sector, though, the leaders fare pretty badly. Hay Group says most captains of industry can expect to earn ten times the salaries our leaders do.

The survey said most Prime Ministers are paid between 10 and 20% of the prevailing private sector rate for comparably sized jobs in their countries.

Mr Blair earns just 5-10% of the salaries private sector chief executives enjoy for performing a similar size role - the lowest such ratio in Europe. Private sector roles of similar scope in Britain command salaries of up to €3.5 million.