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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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Don’t worry. Watch the expenses Claims increase.
And watch those who can’t claim for expenses leave because they’re on 45% less income with no guarantees that it’s not gonna be decimated further… Although, even if there were guarantees I’m not sure they’d be believed… Considering that there’s another 1.5years left on CP…
Don’t forget about the rest!
hese are the pay and perks that Enda Kenny and the other 225 members of Leinster House receive.
1 – Basic wage of a TD: € 92,672
2 – Basic wage of a Senator: € 65,621
Additional payments for TDs are as follows:
3 – Additional payment for a Minister of State: €37,370
4 – Additional payment for super Ministers of State: € 17,205 (plus € 37,370 above)
5 – Minister (€ 76,603)
6 – Tanaiste (€ 91,733)
7 – Taoiseach (€ 107,328)
8 – Ceann Comhairle (€ 76,603)
9 – Leas Ceann Comhairle (€ 37,370)
10 – Chairpersons of Oireachtas committees (Andrew Doyle, Ciarán Lynch, Dominic Hannigan, Alex White, Pat Breen,Jerry Buttimer, Joanna Tuffy, Peadar Tóibín, Damien English, David Stanton, Thomas Pringle, Seán Barrett, John McGuinness , Tom Hayes): €9,500
11 – Member of Oireachtas Commission (Senator John Whelan, Senator Tom Sheahan, Senator Marc MacSharry, Deputy Frank Feighan, Deputy Dan Neville, Deputy John Browne, Deputy Catherine Byrne, Deputy Jack Wall ): €9,500
Chief whips
12 – Chief Whip (Paul Kehoe): no payment specified in One Stop Shop
13 – Assistant Government Whip (Emmet Stagg): €15,000
14 – Whip to Labour Party (Emmet Stagg): no payment specified in One Stop Shop
15 – Asst Whip to Fine Gael (Joe Carey): €7,500
16 – Asst Whip to Labour (John Lyons): €6,000
17 – Whip to Fianna Fail (Sean O’Fearghail): €19,000
18 – Asst Whip to Fianna Fail (John Browne): €9,500
19 – Whip to Sinn Fein (Aengus Ó Snodaigh): €6,000
20 – Asst Whip to Sinn Fein (Jonathan O’Brien): €3,000
21 – Whip to Socialist Party : €6,000
22 – Whip to People Before Profit : €6,000
Additional payments for Senators are as follows
22 – Cathaoirleach (Paddy Burke): €44,336
23 – Leas-Chathaoirleach (Denis O’Donovan): €24,429
24 – Leader of the Seanad (Maurice Cummins): €19,439
25 – Deputy Leader of the House (Ivana Bacik): €9,500
26 – Government Whip (Paul Coghlan): €6,000
27 – Assistant Government Whip (Susan O’Keeffe): €4,000
28 – Fianna Fáil Leader (Darragh O’Brien): €9,500
29 – Independent Group of Nominee Senators’ Leader (Jillian Van Turnhout): €6,000
30 – Independent Group of University Senators’ Leader (Ronan Mullen): €6,000
31 – Fianna Fáil Whip (Diarmuid Wilson): €6,000
32 – Independent Group of Nominee Senators’ Whip (Katherine Zappone): €4,000
33 – Independent Group of University Senators’ Whip (Sean Barrett): €4,000
34 – Select Committee on Members’ Interests of Seanad Éireann (Ivana Bacik, Deirdre Clune,David Cullinane, Maurice Cummins, Ronan Mullen, Darragh O’Brien, Jillian Turnhout) : €3,100 per annum
Pensions
35 – TDs and senators contribute 6% of their salary a year for up to a maximum of 20 years in order to benefit from the Dail pension scheme. It is a final salary scheme which allows for a maximum of ½ the final salary to be paid for life from aged 65 – 1/40th of final salary is accrued for each year of service. It provides for a lump sum upon retirement and it is possible to take early retirement from age 50.
Allowances
36 – Travel and Accommodation: €12,000 – €37,850 per annum depending on distance from the Leinster House. Senators get paid €7,000 – €32,850 per annum and so-called “office holders” get paid €8,400 – €36,150 per annum
Public Representation Allowance: €15,000 for TDs (no evidence of expenditure required – unvouched) or up to €25,700 (supported by invoices and receipts – vouched); Ministers €12,000 (unvouched) to €20,000 (vouched); Senators €9,250 (unvouched) to €15,000 (vouched)
37 – Dual abode allowance: This applies to ministers only and allows Ministers to claim tax deductions on mortgages, rental or hotel accommodation PLUS tax deductions for maintaining property and other expenses which can be up to €6,500.
38 – Ministers can claim a tax deduction on the interest on any loan required to purchase a second residence.
39 – Ministers can claim a tax deduction on maintenance required on any second residence. € 6,500
40 – Ministers can claim the entire cost of rental accommodation if their second residence is rented.
41 – Ministers can claim a tax deduction on the cost of maintaining a second rented residence.
42 – As an alternative to 41 Ministers can claim a tax deduction of €4,500
43 – If Ministers use a hotel or guest house as a second residence they an claim for the entire cost IN ADDITION to €72.66 for subsistence.
44 – If Ministers use a hotel or guest house as a second residence they an claim for maintenance costs (e.g. laundry)
45 – As an alternative to 44 Ministers can claim €3,500
46 – Allowance for Independent TDs
€ 41,152 per annum each for the 18 independent TDs (Stephen Donnelly, Luke Flanagan, Mick Wallace, Shane Ross, Thomas Pringle, Michael Healy-Rae, Michael Lowry, Finian McGrath, Mattie McGrath, Tom Fleming, Noel Grealish, John Halligan, Catherine Murphy, Maureen O’Sullivan PLUS four TDs who have had the party whip removed Tommy Broughan, Willie Penrose, Denis Naughten and Patrick Nulty ).
47 – Allowance for Independent Senators
€ 23,388 for 11 independent senators (John Crown, David Norris, Sean Barrett, Martin McAleese, Feargal Quinn, Ronan Mullen, Fiach Mac Conghail, Marie-Louise O’Donnell, Jillian van Turnhout, Katherine Zappone, Mary Ann O’Brien.
48 – Termination payments:
These are due to of a lump sum upon termination PLUS a monthly payment for up to a year. As long as you have at least six months service in either the Dail or Seanad, you get a termination payment of two months salary. The monthly payment depends on how many years you’ve been a TD or senator eg for five years, you get three months at 75% of your salary. If you have over 14 years service, then you’d be entitled to 6 months at 75% of salary plus the following six months at 50% of salary.
49 – Mileage Allowances
50 – Each minister and minister of state, except An Taoiseach, An Tanaiste and justice minister, is entitled to recruit two drivers apiece at a cost which is charged to each department.
51 – Attendance of a TD at a “parliamentary assembly” carries hotel expenses and a subsistence allowance for “entertaining”
52 – Parliamentary assistants allowance (no requirement by Oireachtas members to report appointing members of their own families)
Up to €41,092 per TD for secretarial assistance, PR, IT and training
€8,000 per TD to set up and kit out a constituency office
Additional perks
53 – Free parking in central Dublin (normal cost €12 per day approx)
54 – Free gym
55 – Free subsidised restaurant
56 – Private members bar with subsidised drinks
57 – Free tax advice service
58 – Free language lessons
59 – Postage: – 1,500 free postage items per month for TDs and 1,000 for senators.
60 – Free ink cartridges: up to the value of €2000 annually
61 – Free unlimited telephone calls (landline)
62 – Mobile phone allowance: €750 every 18 months
63 – Free office in Leinster House for TDs & Senators
64 – VHI free
65 – Free Automobile A insurance
66 – Free car insurance.
67 – Free personal accident and death insurance
68 – Individual state funding for political parties.”
Totally outrageous these additional perks for the boys. Absolute joke.
I just got sick in my cereal….shower of useless, sel serving b@stards. When you consider we are being run by the Germans, why do we even need a government???
And let’s not forget this is after TD voted themselves (without any debate of course) a €4M increase in spend for this year, which included raises for: salaries (for TDs, senators and MEPs), travel expenses, and ‘other’ expenses…
My heart bleeds…
Well done J Rudd! I was beginning to think that this lot were at last feeling the pinch like the rest of us but your exposé of the ‘extras’ shows it to be a joke.
Please we need to destroy the government system in this poxy country, our lives being made a misery on a daily basis and then seeing that minsters making news headlines for taking a pay cut… just look at what they make, somebody that makes money like that and then sits there and passes cuts to the weak and lower paid in this country are £ucking lowlifes.
Frank
Your comments are on the back of you leeching off the rest of society by deliberately not paying your taxes. In that regard I believe you should be denied the right to comment or have a view on the issue. At the same time you use foul language to describe all publicly elected Members of our Parliament who put themselves forward to serve the people who you are cheating with willful non payment of lawfully imposed taxes. Perhaps you should relocate to Egypt.
Rick, ignore Frank for a minute and tell me your views on the outrageous list of pay and perks in J Rudd’s post.
Rick (Paddy Rodgers) McRory is one of these people who thrives on the divisions of our society….he was a complete muppet when he was paddy rodgers, richard rodgers, michael collins and now rick mcrory so anything he says is complete and utter garbage….in his time on the journal he has insulted everyone from the unemployed to the mentally and physically handicapped…..but I will say one thing, he has done more damage to the people he supports than any one of us could dream of….keep it up Paddy!
J Rudd
Thanks for your figures
Gob smacked!
Basic pay and nothing else , stop this rubbish
Feel free to educate the people to the FULL truth!
No wonder that congealed, used vegetable oil of a person. Mary Harney, said that the worst day in government was better than the best day in opposition. She took her fill at thet rough and is still troughing – all at our expense.
And ‘High’ Noonan has the neck to tell people to cancel their satellite tv subscriptions to pay the property tax, and doubtless a line of more taxes he has in store for us in coming budgets.
Time for the sans-culottes.
Many thanks, J Rudd – really impressive list!
One extra point – TDs will have the Haddington Road pay cut restored in full by 2017, I believe?
@ Connaughtabu
Shush – the TD’s don’t want that to be widely known!
It would upset their PR spinning!
Nearly 300,000 public sector, does that include all the Quangos, and “ADVISORS” there are ONLY 5 million people in the country!!!
With that pay, where do I sign up?
but I thought this country was broke ?
judging by that list its anything but .
Hi J.Rudd,
Very comprehensive, nice work… although there (believe it or not) are 2 types of payment you don’t list and one that’s ever so slightly in need of correction.
(1) The correction is to do with the Leaders Allowance paid to independents where you list that those having lost the whip (i.e. Tommy Broughan, Willie Penrose, Denis Naughten and Patrick Nulty… plus don’t forget the others now) get 41,152 per annum. That’s not actually true. What happens is the parties they USED to belong to in fact continue to receive their leaders allowance and those Deputies who’ve lost the whip get cut off from the services, staff and facilities that allowance was used to pay for. See the allowance is paid on the basis of what party (or none) you belonged to upon election, any changes after that are immaterial.
(2) See the way leaders allowance works is that its paid in respect of every single TD and Senator, its paid directly to independent members as they don’t have a leader but for those belonging to a party its paid directly to the party leader… so its often thought that party TDs don’t get paid this but that’s not true, they get this allowance plus the Oireachtas provides them with offices, staff and facilities to run the parliamentary party. In effect, Enda and Eamon still receive money and staff allocations to support and facilitate ‘the free radicals’ even after they’ve kicked them out! Awesome way to ensure leaving the party is a massive sacrifice!
Government still hasn’t introduced a way for independents to submit accounts on how they spend this allowance (usually used to hire staff, commission research etc) even though they promised to in the last budget! But get this, the way the parties publically account for their spending is no good either; see the party itself hires an auditor who audits the accounts, signs off on them and a simple report to SIPO (no invoices, no receipts, nothing) which is then made publically available. So we never actually see full details of spending, just a list of things the party attests to having spent the money on!
Parties have the allowance paid according to this formula:
“€71,520 per member for each of the first 10 members elected, €57,214 per member for each member elected from 11 to 30 members and €28,616 for each member elected over 30 members.” – This is a direct quote from SIPO
(3) Don’t forget the 4.9 million (yes million) that Fine Gael, Labour, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein share between them ANNUALLY because they received more than 2% of the first preference votes cast in the last general election. And get this! Even though between them these 4 parties recieved 83% of the first preferences between them they get 100% of that fund! Government voted down a proposal to change that little quirk and allow them only to qualify for funding commensurate with their actual first preference vote take. If they had taken this proposal the State would have saved around 840,000 PER ANNUM under the current Dáil as the 17% of first preferences cast in respect of small parties who didn’t get the requisite 2% of first preference votes to qualify, and independents who can’t qualify as this is a payment for parties only would have reverted to the State.
The whole system is a disgrace. TDs need a certain amount of staff, facilities and expenses to be able to perform their jobs to be fair but this system is out of control, inefficient, inequitable and downright wasteful!
Good work J.Rudd :D
great work J, thanks
funny any mention of money and the PS draws hundreds of red thumbs, interesting!!!
Thanks J. Rudd. At last someone has put true picture in front of us. How could they possibly understand how the rest of us live. Absolutely sickened – to think we have to pay for their perks and our own if we can afford them.
I am not on the breadline but I really cannot believe this.
Hope everyone shares this on their timeline. Thanks J Rudd – keep it coming – I am sure there is more.
I don’t think that I would mind all the extravagant perks that the Politicians are on if they actually deserved it i.e. if our country was thriving due to their efforts.
But our Country is anything but thriving.
In my opinion it’s looking like despite being on the ridiculous money our Political Elite are paid they have destroyed our economy and are also destroying our personal freedoms on a daily basis as it suits their agenda.
Very frustrating and very wrong.
Thank you for this, it’s nothing but a disgrace.
Lads, it;s not his work-he robbed it from a campaign page on Facebook, who originally sourced the raw data themselves from Nama Wine Lake.
The facts are available to anyone who wishes to look them up. And the more of us that do so, the better.
Jesus those TD’s, ministers will never survive on that measly wage !
How much would they get if they were paid what they’re worth?
Good question PJ
In my opinion they would actually owe us money, useless self serving twits
@PJ Walsh
In the scenario you mention Kenny & Co would owe the state a fortune,But what price can you put on broken families and lost businesses.
Cue the serial whingers. Before ye start, note Enda Kenny now on 45% less than Brian Cowen at his peak. There’s not a CEO on the ISEQ on less than €185k.
A TD earn’s more the a UK MP. About €15,000 more per year. For what?
A country is not a business & Enda is not a CEO. Why compare the two?
The country IS a business. We are currently spending more than we earn and if we had a CEO instead of muppets like Bertie, Biffo and Enda we might not be in this mess.
35% less than Cowen. Not 45%. Significant but no where near enough for a bankrupt country.
You seem to have forgot the Anglo Bank Tapes. They were a business. But this is off topic.
How much is Bertie’s pension?
@Egg
Vincent how many times have i told you….fianna fail are not the yardstick to judge oneself…..please aim higher!
I’d have to disagree with you smug head, a country can’t be a business.
A country’s ‘profit’ is a happy healthy citizens, a businesses profit is money. If a country was to operate as a business all unproductive members would be discarded, old, sick, invalid, below average IQ, special needs etc. life would become a survival of the fittest, cancer patients not worth saving, anyone born with genetic errors why help them survive when they’ll be a drain on society?
A bit extreme but this is why a country can not be run like a business and to say otherwise is not thinking logically.
Nicely put Eric.
If a country was a business then we’d have a planned internal economy that was planned down to the last cent like in Corps. If a country was a business then the those that don’t or can’t contribute would be gotten rid of (since you can’t be fired from life, maybe exiled or killed), if a country was a business you’d only be educated in what the country needed you to know to fulfill a role and not what you might be interested in. I could go on.
A country is not a business nor should it be.
Please don’t act like businesses are a perfect institution there are far more failed and bankrupted businesses then there are failed and bankrupted countries.
Eric- that’s the fundamental difference between the left & the right, isn’t it? Both agree the object if the exercise is a happy & healthy population. Only the right understand that this is only possible if the country is solvent. And that is best achieved if the economy is in like a business. The dividends are then shared amongst its shareholders, the people in services and benefits.
Rachel- you can compare our Taoiseach with a CEO because he runs a board (our Cabinet) which manages the company (our State). Ultimately, it’s worth comparing them because you want the most talented people stepping forward to run the country. They won’t do if they could earn 3,4,5,6 times as much as the Taoiseach in the Private Sector. It’s not like other countries where you take a small wage, write your autobiography afterwards and pocket €10m from the proceeds.
A cut to 185k for Enda is not a 10% cut? The article states over 185k is a 10% cut. That’s 7.5%. And Gilmore is just under 185k, his cut is over 5.5%. Could you please clarify?
And how comes Senator’s only got a pay reduction of under 0.1%???
i’m assuming because it affects thise earning over 65k so the drop would be the lesser of 5% or whatever brings pay down to 65k
Lesser of two weevils methinks
And the gravy train still rolls on, what a joke !!
Some people wont be happy untill they see Td’s on minimum wage. Tax the rich blah blah blah.
621 for a senator, is this the reform they were talking about.
News just in…TD’s and senators join queue outside St Vincent de Paul with red eyes and swollen stomachs…as well as visiting svdp some supplement their meagre income selling their wasted bodies for sex…some senators have become so desperate they’ve done piecemeal work for the large banks, a brutal and often harrowing end.
how will they survive on such a pittance
Is it not true that they gave themselves a pay increase recently so how exactly is this reduction actually effecting them?
No, it’s not true. They gave themselves a pay cut when they got into office.
Pensions and expenses please. You have no need for expenses either.
Good morning! Hahaha
Hows the pug?
He’s lovin’ it!
They’ll just up their expenses to cover what they lose in salary.
Real changes are being implement for those on the frontline, can’t speak for other groups,
Extra days being worked
Enda Kenny….
I love that bloke & so do you….
Leading our country forward like the champion he is
NOT ENOUGH!
€65,000 a year. Jeez they will never manage
This loss in earnings to Enda is like someome losing a few cents from there pocket.
we have a huge budget deficit but party increments are frozen for 3-6 months only
civil servants still live in a bubble exempt from real world economics
new entrants are being taken advantage if it tiny starting salaries but those with existing terms are being treated as golden calfs
Truly shocking !!
Minister of State positions is a job for the boys. No need for them.
While base pay is cut how much in total do these ministers make per year with there little perks here and there?
I bet Enda rakes in still over 250k ?
What are we the supposedly to do …cry for them, get out the violins.. all the thousands of private sector workers that have had pay cuts implemented upon them without a word…they in Public service are putting themselves out in front again lest we forget….
Funnily enough, it’s actually illegal for a private sector employer to cut your pay without your agreement. But with this new legislation the Government as an employer is not bound by normal employment law and can cut pay and conditions unilaterally.
Valerie thanks for enlightning me on that re private sector.
next Thursday is pay day. not today
It depends – for some it is today actually. (At least, I think the better half is hoping its pay day today!)
Some fortnightly payrolls were paid today. But the decrease won’t show in full until the next one.
The government once again leading from the front on this issue.
Another element of the Programme For Government fulfilled.
ive only one comment….
hahahahahahahahaha!!!
This reduction is to be commended and long may it continue for the Leinster House golden-circle i.e. Travel & Subsistence should not go unvouched and should be dramatically cut.
Furthermore, we spend €8bn on the Education budget in this country and almost €21bn on Social Welfare.
We need to get real and prioritise to get this country back on its feet. “Career welfarists” need to be sought out and their payments reduced, of course, while protecting those who are genuinely unemployed and need of State-support.
Raping the country ,thieves , liars, pure evil , their day will come sooner than later when the people of this country cop on to these rouges .
Thanks for that J.Rudd, very informative…These are a shower of crooks, fu!&in gangsters, parasites on the state coffers, way overpaid charlatans, it really is sickening.
I’m absolutely gobsmacked at the self sacrifice of our beloved Dáil and Senate taking such savage cuts to their salaries…of course their expenses will not increase one iota.
The income tax take, and VAT receipts will be down at the end of the year, no doubt
What a joke especially reading J. Rudd’s report on the “extras”. I can’t wait for the next election, to give every TD, regardless of party, who asks me for a vote the biggest rollicking ever.
Four months after reading this and I’m still gob smacked…..
No wonder they don’t care about water charges and are disconnected…
Why do t we pay salary of Taoiseach based o. The number of people in the country he manages
Take Cameron’s salary and divide by. 50 million or there a outs
Then apply the same ratio of payments to Enda and his mob in a sliding scale
I did the maths on a back of a matchbox and Enda should be earning 60000 only and everyone else on sliding scale .
How on earth can our mob be paid 15000 euro more than a MP in uk where is the twisted logic in this
Time to get back to reality boys and girls we can’t afford this , plus we have over 20% more public service per population than UK
Yawn now I’m off to bed
have your say