Some senior public servants have been awarded pay increases ranging up to 33 per cent under the Buckley review. The review body says salary levels in the public service are "substantially out of line" with private-sector rates for comparable posts.
The review recommends that the pay of senior public servants be "benchmarked" or tied to the lower quartile of the private sector. The overall increase in salary costs is 12 per cent.
The biggest increase goes to the secretary-general of the Department of Finance, whose pay rises 33.3 per cent to £135,000 a year. Most other secretaries-general get increases of 25.4 per cent to £120,000.
Under the review the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, sees his annual salary rise by 28.5 per cent to £110,000, while the review body recommended a 5.2 per cent increase, to £90,000, for the Chief-of-Staff, Lieut Gen Colm Mangan. The Government has decided to amend this to £100,000.
The heads of a number of semi-State bodies see their pay rise 12.9 per cent to £100,000. These include Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Forfas, FAS and Bord Failte.
Udaras na Gaeltachta and Bord Bia get increases of 16.8 per cent, bringing their salaries to £75,000.
In a number of cases, the review body recommended salaries which are lower than the rates paid at present. However, the holders of these posts, which include the chief executive of Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the chief executive officer of the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the heads of the Prison Service and the Courts Service, will retain their present salaries.
No pay increases were recommended for the heads of the Arts Council, the Agency for Personal Service Overseas (APSO) and the Independent Radio and Television Commission.
Salary increases for the judiciary range between 22.2 per cent and 16.7 per cent. The Chief Justice will be paid £140,000, the President of the High Court £130,000 and a Supreme Court judge £122,000.
The report of the review body is available on: www.irlgov.ie/finance
