The Government was accused of double standards in exchanges where they were accused of paying “tsar” salaries that would please a “Russian oligarch”.
Opposition politicians criticised Ministers over potential increases in salaries for the heads of 30 semi-State bodies while mounting “a despicable attack on low-paid workers” in the Dáil on Wednesday.
Social Democrats acting leader Cian O‘Callaghan made the accusation after the Cabinet agreed on Tuesday to implement recommendations made by the Senior Posts Remuneration Committee.
This would lead to pay reviews and possible salary increases worth tens of thousands of euro for chief executives of almost 30 commercial State bodies.
Masseur admits to sexually assaulting woman during massage at Co Cork hotel
There’s a simple reason why building projects - from the petty to the transformative - take so long in Ireland
Donald Trump marks first 100 days in power with speech designed to leave fact-checkers with migraine
‘My future looks empty and lonely ... I should have invested more in friends, but it feels too late now’
But Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there had been an ad hoc approach to salaries for the past 10 or 20 years and it was “important to create a framework for how chief executives are paid in the semi-state sector”.
The exchange follows an attack earlier by Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who said the appointment of a “housing tsar” at an “extraordinary and unjustifiable price tag” of €430,000 was a price that “might be approved of by a Russian oligarch”.
She said it was “clearly putting Fine Gael noses out of joint” following reports that Tánaiste Simon Harris heard in the media about the proposed appointment of National Asset Management Agency boss Brendan McDonagh, when he believed it should have been discussed in advance by party leaders.
Ms Bacik, who accused the Taoiseach of failing to deal with homelessness, claimed the Housing Activation Office was a “new policy shrouded in secrecy” and claimed the Government had a “flying by the seat of your pants” strategy. She said it was unacceptable for its chief executive to earn €200,000 more than the Taoiseach.
But Mr Martin insisted the new agency “is not a secret. It was in the programme for government.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, referring to the proposed salary of the head of the new agency, said the “nearly half a million euro to take up the responsibilities of the housing Minister is cracked”. She called on the Taoiseach to “come to his senses” and asked if he was on a “solo run” because “your friends in Fine Gael seem to think you are”.
She said the Taoiseach had failed to justify the salary for people “who can’t afford housing or rent”. But Mr Martin said he had dealt with the issue comprehensively and within the public service there were people earning substantial salaries and this had been the case since 1998 with the establishment of the National Treasury Management Agency.
Mr O‘Callaghan said that “not content” with a €430,00 salary for the head of the new Housing Activation Office, the heads of semi-states from Horse Racing Ireland to RTÉ are potentially in line “for massive increases”.
He said this was “despite the fact that these CEOs received a combined €75 million in pay and perks over 10 years”, according to a report in Village magazine.
He asked “why does this Government believe that those at the top deserve bumper salary increases while low-paid workers are thrown under the bus”.
The Dublin Bay North TD said there were no references “to economic headwinds, tariffs or global volatility when it comes to gold-plate salaries”.
“While across the country people are struggling to make ends meet, keep their homes heated, their rent paid and their bills from piling up, this Government has mounted a despicable attack on low-paid workers.”
But rejecting the accusations Mr Martin said there had been many improvements for low-paid workers. The minimum wage increased over the last number of years, “and it will continue to increase”. Pension auto-enrolment would be implemented in January and is the “most significant” development in a generation for low-paid workers.
He added that for semi-State agency chief executives it was “important to create a framework for how chief executives are paid in the semi-State sector” and to move from an ad-hoc approach.
