Junior ministers top-up 'has caused great annoyance'

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe: 'We were looking to get to a point that if they were all doing the same work, that they were paid the same.'

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has accepted the €16,000 top-up allowance for super junior ministers “has caused a great deal of annoyance” to people, but defended their introduction.

Mr Donohoe said the decision to introduce the top-up for super junior ministers on top of their €124,000 salary is to create a situation that all ministers were being paid the same. In the last government, because of the rules, two additional junior ministers sat at the Cabinet table but were paid less than others.