Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is to receive a 14 per cent pay rise which will increase his annual salary by €38,000 to €310,000.
Fine Gael spokesman on finance Richard Bruton
The recommendation was one of approximately 1,600 made by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector. The average hike was 7.3 per cent.
Tánaiste Brian Cowen will get a 15.6 per cent rise, bringing his salary to €270,000, while ministers and junior ministers will receive a 12 per cent rise, to €240,000 and €165,000, respectively.
The figures include the TDs' salary.
The judiciary has received one of the highest average increases (18.1 per cent) because the high salaries earned by barristers had to be taken into account by the review panel. Circuit Court judges benefitted the most with a 22.4 per cent increase, bringing their salary from €160,950 to €190,000.
The highest average, however, was 19.2 per cent awarded to Specialists in Public Health Medicine and Directors of Public Health Medicine.
Other groups affected are high ranking gardai, civil servants and the chief executives of State-sponsored bodies.
The salaries recommended have been discounted by 15 per cent "to allow for the superior value of public service pensions relative to the private sector."
The total cost of the reccomendations will be €16 million per annum.
The increases are to be implemented on the following phased basis:
- five per cent from September 14th, 2007, the date of the Report, or where the total increase is less than five per cent, the full increase from that date;
- half the balance from September 1st, 2008; and
- the remaining balance from March 1st, 2009
The review body stated today: "The overall effect of the review is that the salaries recommended are below the average level of salaries of comparable posts in the private sector since they are based on the lower quartile of private sector salaries."
Repsonding to the pay rises this evening, Fine Gael deputy leader and spokesman on finance Richard Bruton said the Cabinet bore "all the hallmarks of a Government that is now drunk on power and completely divorced from reality".
He added: "I have no problem with paying people competitive salaries and bonuses once they are managing organisations that are delivering best practice. With this Government that is simply not the case. There needs to be much greater public accountability for the delivery of benchmarks of best practice in all these sectors.
"Unfortunately, these Ministers have displayed no desire to deliver best practice."