Reasons we might begrudge ministers their pay

BRIAN LENIHAN is irritated. One of his budget measures has been greeted with a “deal of begrudgery” and he “cannot allow this to go unchallenged,” he says.

The measure in question is the decision to cut Cabinet pay. The Taoiseach is taking a €14,000 cut, which will reduce his salary to €214,000. Ministers are taking a €10,000 cut, which will reduce their pay to €181,000.

These are not the first cuts they have taken — at its highest point in September 2008, Brian Cowen’s salary was €285,582. That same month, a minister’s salary was €225,195.

In addition to the direct cuts, the Taoiseach and ministers pay the public service pension levy and large amounts of tax. They will also be hit by the new 4% PRSI charge for high-paid office-holders introduced in the budget. So in lots of different ways, Cabinet pay has been cut, and the Finance Minister is annoyed that he and his colleagues are not getting credit for it.

And yet a simple fact sums up the reality of Cabinet pay: even after this latest round of cuts, the Taoiseach and every minister will still continue to receive a higher gross salary than British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Mr Cameron earns £142,500 a year, or circa €169,500. That is roughly €44,500 less than the Taoiseach and €11,500 less than a minister. Mr Cowen leads a country that has necessitated an EU/IMF bailout, raising major questions about his own performance. Mr Cameron leads a country that has not required any such bailout. In fact Britain is contributing a bilateral loan to Ireland as part of our bailout. Despite all that, Mr Lenihan thinks it is begrudgery to suggest that the Taoiseach and ministers are overpaid.

This country is on its knees and the Government is making savage cuts to social welfare and the minimum wage. Yet Mr Lenihan thinks it is appropriate that he and the rest of the Cabinet be paid more than Mr Cameron? Apparently, yes.

“There seems to be the view abroad in this country, promoted in some — but not all — sections of the print and electronic media, that no public servant, including office- holders, should be paid a salary that reflects the burdens of their offices,” Mr Lenihan told the Dáil.

“This is often linked to the very short-sighted view that talented people should somehow take up the responsibilities of public office on a voluntary basis.

“Let me be clear. Governing this country, as we all know in this House, is a difficult and complex job, both in good times and in the very bad times we are experiencing now. Those who carry out these tasks in the public interest should have an appropriate payment for it.”

Reading that lecture — because it is a lecture — four points spring to mind:

(1) It is not unreasonable to ask why a country that was at risk of going bust continues to pay massive salaries in parts of the public service, particularly to ministers.

(2) When he mentions “talented people” he seems to be referring to the current Cabinet. They may be talented politicians, in terms of winning elections, clinging to office, and defending the indefensible — such as the minimum wage cut — but they certainly cannot claim to be talented managers, given the fact we have had to be bailed out on their watch.

(3) I’ve heard no serious observer claim that politicians should take up office “on a voluntary basis” as Mr Lenihan suggests. Any reasonable person will expect the government of the day to be paid, and paid well. They just don’t expect them to be paid excessively at a time of national financial crisis.

(4) Politicians crave ministerial office because they crave power. If all Cabinet salaries were reduced to a flat €100,000 in the morning until such time as this crisis ends, the vast majority of politicians would still happily accept a ministerial post. And despite what Mr Lenihan thinks, they would still be very well paid.