McCreevy in spotlight over EU pay

FORMER European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy shot into the spotlight across Europe because he and 16 of his former colleagues were still being paid by Brussels even though they are in new jobs.

German newspaper FT Deutschland broke what it called an exclusive story that Mr McCreevy, despite being paid about €47,000 a year as a non-executive director with Ryanair, was receiving just over €11,000 a month from the EU.

The sum is a transition allowance he is entitled to for three years after leaving his commission post and is 55% of his salary, which was about €20,280 a month.