Top public servants lobbied over pay

TOP-PAID public servants escaped the full wage cuts imposed on their lower-paid colleagues after lobbying the finance minister and claiming the loss of their bonus payments should be taken into account.

Brian Lenihan’s decision to exempt them from the cuts has outraged teachers, nurses, Gardaí and other public servants who have had wage cuts of 5% to 7% as part of the Government’s cost-cutting measures.

While workers such as cleaners earning €30,000 took a cut in the region of €1,500, around 150 assistant secretaries at the top of the civil service had their basic salaries cut by just 3% from a maximum of €150,000 to €146,000.