Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and their Ministers will see their pay reduced under the new Croke Park deal.
With salaries above €65,000 cut throughout the public sector, the pay of TDs will also be cut.
Although the Government said a range of additional measures would include public service pension savings, the Department of Public Expenditure would not say last night how the new deal would impact on the pensions of former taoisigh, ministers and other office holders.
In light of the 2011 referendum on judicial pay, judges will see their salaries cut under the new deal. The reduction will also apply to top civil servants and the leaders of the Garda and Defence Forces.
Taoiseach and Ministers
Mr Kenny’s current annual pay is €200,000, a rate set after his incoming administration cut ministerial pay when it took office in March 2011. Under the new deal the Taoiseach’s pay will drop €14,650 to €185,350.
Mr Gilmore’s current salary of €184,405 will drop by €13,096.45 to €171,308.55.
Other members of the Cabinet – Michael Noonan, Brendan Howlin, Alan Shatter, Dr James Reilly, Simon Coveney, Leo Varadkar, Jimmy Deenihan, Pat Rabbitte, Frances Fitzgerald, Phil Hogan, Richard Bruton, Ruairí Quinn and Joan Burton – will see their €169,275 salary drop €11,734.75 to €157,540.25.
This decrease also applies to Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett, who receives the same pay as Ministers.
Attorney General Máire Whelan will see her €191,417 salary drop €13,791.7 to €177,625.30.
The pay of Ministers of State, currently €130,042, will drop €8,403.36 to €121,638.64. The annual pay of TDs, currently €92,672, will drop €5,413.76 to €87,258.24.
President
President Michael D Higgins voluntarily waives €76,493 of his official salary so his present pay is €249,014. Given the voluntary nature of this reduction, it remains unclear whether the decreases under the new Croke Park arrangements will apply to the President’s salary or to the €325,507 figure which applied before his decision to take a pay cut. The President’s spokesman had nothing to say on that matter last night.
The voluntary waiver brought his salary in line with a reduced figure which will apply by law to the next holder of the office.
Asked on RTÉ Radio yesterday about the impact of the new deal on ministerial pensions and the pensions of other office holders, Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin said “the generality” of pension changes would apply to that category.
Pensions
Such pensions cost €15.26 million in 2011, according to the latest figures from the Department of Finance.
Public pensions in excess of €32,500 will be reduced under the new deal, it is understood.
However, the precise impact on the pensions of former taoisigh such as Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, who each receive in excess of €150,000, was unclear last night.
Under the new deal the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Susan Denham, will see her €227,168 salary cut by €17,366.80 to €209,801. The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, will see his €211,088 salary cut by €15,758.80 to €195,329.20.
Judges
Judges of the Supreme Court will see their annual €198,226 salary cut by €14,472.60 to €183,753.34. Judges of the High Court will see their annual €186,973 pay cut by €13,347.30 to €173,625.70.
Judges of the Circuit Court will see their annual €141,892 pay cut by €9,351.36 to €132.540.64. District Court judges appointed before last year will see their annual €123,881 pay cut by €7,910.48 to €115,970.52.
Garda Commissioner
Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan will see his annual €197,625 pay cut by €14,412.50 to €183,212.50.
Senior civil servants
The pay of secretaries general of Government departments, which ranges between €189,474 and €200,000, will drop by €13,597.40 at the lower end of that scale and by €14,650 at the upper level. Deputy secretaries general, currently paid between €165,000 and €183,684, will see their pay drop by between €11,500 and €13,031.56.
