THE TAOISEACH’S LEVEL of pay is back in the news today after he told reporters that he is “very much” worth his salary of over €185,000 or around €3,500 per week.
Enda Kenny was speaking at the launch of the government’s Low Pay Commission which will examine the scope for increasing the current minimum wage of €8.65.
During a Q&A, Kenny was asked by the Irish Examiner journalist Shaun Connolly if he felt he was worth his wages.
Connolly made the point that the Taoiseach earns more than the British prime minister David Cameron*, yet runs a country with a population smaller than Yorkshire, which has 5.3 million people.
Kenny’s response was: “Very much so”.
He added that “salaries are down by 40 per cent in the case of the Taoiseach’s. We’ve cut everything to the bone and your question is typical”.
The brief response was a reference to the two pay cuts that Kenny has taken since he came to office in March 2011.
The day after he formed a government, Kenny cut his own pay by 6.6 per cent from €214,187 to €200,000 along with the pay of the Tánaiste and all other ministers.
Under the Haddington Road Agreement in July 2013, Kenny’s pay dropped to €185,350 under the wide-ranging public sector pay cuts for higher earners.
* Although at the current exchange rate, Cameron currently actually earns more than Kenny, around €194,000
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