THE TAOISEACH, THE Tánaiste, every Cabinet minister, every single TD in the Dáil and every other civil servant working in the country are taking pay cuts this week.
Today is public sector pay day with the state’s roughly 292,000 public servants feeling the first effects of the Haddington Road Agreement on public sector pay and reform.
The measures introduced under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act (FEMPI) include incremental pay cuts for those earning over €65,000.
These cuts range from 5.5 per cent for those earning over €65,000 and up to €80,000 to 10 per cent for those on over €185,000.
In addition there is a freeze on increments for the next three years for those employees in unions who have not signed up to the agreement while for those that have increments, they will be frozen for periods of between three and six months in the coming years.
The new measures mean that Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s pay drops from €200,000 to €185,350 while Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore will see his pay fall from €184,405 to €171,309.
A government minister’s salary will fall from €169,275 to €157,540 while a Minister of State will now earn €121,639 compared to the€130,042 they earned prior to the changes.
A TD’s pay is now €87,258 compared to €92,672 – a €5,414 reduction. By contrast, senators’ pay has been cut by just €621 and they will now earn €65,000.
This document provided by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform outlines the changes in pay that Ministers, TDs and Senators are now facing:
“The measures set out in the Agreement will achieve the targets set down by Government,” a spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said.
“The Agreement will deliver an unprecedented increase in productivity across the public service, through the provision of almost 15 million additional working hours and a range of other efficiency and reform measures.”
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