€250k cap on public sector pay

THE days of senior public servants, including the President, earning more than 10 times the average industrial wage are to be brought to an end.

Brian Lenihan confirmed the Government’s intention to introduce a maximum salary rate of €250,000 in the public sector. And the Finance Minister said that maximum should also apply in the semi-state sector where the massive pay packets were particularly prevalent. “Only a few office-holder posts have salaries above this level at present, but there is a larger number in the state agencies.”

As reported in the Irish Examiner earlier this week, there are a large number of semi-state heads earning in excess of €250,000, including HSE chief executive Cathal Magee (€335,913) and Frank Gannon of Science Foundation Ireland (€259,698).