News from ireland By Frank Shouldice Gov't Takes Pay Hike With widespread evidence of the

News from ireland

By Frank Shouldice

Gov't Takes Pay Hike

With widespread evidence of the economy slowing down, the Irish government aroused an angry public reaction by awarding itself a double-figure pay hike. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will take a 14 percent pay rise which, at 38,000 euros, is itself worth 5,000 euros more than the average industrial wage.

The substantial pay increase will apply to cabinet ministers as well as senior officers in the civil service, garda (Irish police force) and academia. Its generous terms were recommended by a civil service review committee, and the Taoiseach dismissed criticism by saying the pay award was calculated by an independent body.

"I don't tend to worry about these things," he said blithely when it was pointed out he will now earn 310,000 euros per year. "The Government will implement the pay scales . . . that's it."

For many, however, it is strange that the elected leader of a country of about four million people should be paid a salary greater than that of other international leaders, including George W. Bush, Gordon Brown and the premiers of economic powerhouses like Germany and France.

In comparison with his EU colleagues, Bertie Ahern will earn well over double the salary of the Dutch prime minister and six times the pay of Polish counterpart Donald Tusk. The Taoiseach insisted he would not trouble himself with such comparisons.

However, as state revenue begins to tail off from taxing a slowing economy, the immediate prospect for state finances is not so encouraging. Wage negotiations between unions and state bodies are expected to be more difficult than usual, and the government's readiness to handsomely reward itself in a time of retrenchment will surely raise the temperature. Following the pay award controversy, Fianna Fil's approval rating crashed by nine percent (to 33 percent) in a TMS/mrbi opinion poll. Bertie Ahern's personal rating fell by an even more significant 15 percent (to 43 percent).

O'Loan Reopens Nelson Case

Northern Ireland police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan has found that the Royal Ulster Constabulary (now named the Police Service of Northern Ireland) failed to deal properly with threats that preceded the murder of human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson.

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Nster.com