Semi-state salaries - Profligacy must be tackled

This country has been on the front pages of newspapers throughout the world for the past week, due to the EU/IMF bailout.

Nobody should really be surprised we are in such a mess when one considers the salaries being paid to senior members of our semi-state bodies that are highlighted on the front page of today’s Irish Examiner.

The graphic is a breathtaking reminder of the colossal insensitivity of the Government in announcing it would be cutting the minimum wage by 12% in line with the National Recovery Plan in order to remove a “barrier to employment creation” and improve the competitiveness of the Irish economy. Yet there was no mention of any cuts to the wages or pensions of some of the highest paid people in the public and semi-state sectors.

A dozen of the heads of semi-state bodies are paid more than the Taoiseach, and nine of those are paid more than the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, or any of the other countries of the EU, and even more than the American President. The chief executive of the ESB is paid over €40,000 a year more that the combined annual salaries of President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister David Cameron.

Nobody should be surprised that our electricity prices are among the highest in Europe. This probably has a much greater knock-on impact on our overall competitiveness and employment than the minimum wage.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan hinted strongly last week that tomorrow’s budget would tackle the issue of ministerial pensions. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern announced he would not be running for re-election at the next general election. By retiring, he would actually be paid €37,000 more on pension than he would earn as a backbench deputy, if he were re-elected. The excess is around what the average industrial worker earns in a year of toil.

Such pension payoffs and golden handshakes are an affront to the hard-pressed middle and lower income Irish taxpayers, who are being compelled to fund such extravagance. This profligacy must be tackled without delay.

As the Government is ultimately responsible for state-funded activities, no manager should be paid more than the Taoiseach. There are suggestions of pay cuts for all future semi-state managers in tomorrow’s budget, but the existing semi-state bosses may be left untouched on contractual grounds. This will be an outrage.

There must be leadership from the top.