President and Central Bank chief take pay cut

PAY CUTS:PRESIDENT MARY McAleese and the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, John Hurley, will take a 10 per cent pay cut following Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan's appeal to senior public servants to consider surrendering 10 per cent of their salary during his Budget speech.

President Mary McAleese has announced she will take a voluntary 10 per cent pay cut in her annual salary of €325,508. The Government secretariat was notified of her decision yesterday morning.

A spokeswoman for Mr Hurley said: "The governor of the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland has volunteered to also surrender 10 per cent of his total pay." Last year, Mr Hurley was paid €368,703.

A statement issued shortly after midday yesterday read: "The President has this morning informed the Government of her intention to surrender 10 per cent of her salary in light of the current national budgetary situation."

The President is on a State visit to Norway. She attended a business breakfast in Oslo yesterday morning, hosted by Enterprise Ireland and later visited the Celtic studies department at the University of Oslo.

The President's salary cut will amount to €32,551 gross. The procedure for making the deduction is expected to be worked out on her return. The Norwegian State visit concludes this evening.

In his Budget speech on Tuesday, Mr Lenihan announced that Ministers, Ministers of State and secretaries general of Government departments would be surrendering 10 per cent of their current total pay.

"Other public servants in leadership and senior positions may wish to consider whether it is appropriate for them to make a similar move in current circumstances," Mr Lenihan said.

Meanwhile, RTÉ's top six executives are taking a "significant reduction" in pay. A spokeswoman for RTÉ said the decision pre-dated Mr Lenihan's appeal.

"A few weeks ago, members of the RTÉ executive board decided to take a significant reduction in their remuneration package," she said. The amount has not been revealed.

The executives are: director general Cathal Goan, managing director of news and current affairs Ed Mulhall, managing director of television Noel Curran, managing director of radio Adrian Moynes, communications director Bríd Rosney and Conor Hayes, chief financial officer. Asked if RTÉ's highest-earning presenters would take a pay cut, the spokeswoman said RTÉ never discussed negotiations of individuals' salaries.

In his Budget speech, Mr Lenihan expanded on his appeal to others to make a similar move in a post-Budget press conference, referring to those "in command positions in the semi-States and local authorities".

Mr Lenihan's appeal has also been accepted by the Comptroller and Auditor General, John Buckley.

Mr Buckley's private secretary said: "He has notified the secretary general of the Department of Finance orally that he will take the 10 per cent pay cut."

She said that Mr Buckley was "more than willing".

Meanwhile, an ESB spokesman said the company's chief executive, Pádraig McManus, had been away on business, but would examine the proposal in detail and discuss it with the board.

Asked if Dublin city manager John Tierney would opt for a pay cut, a Dublin City Council spokesman said that Mr Tierney would be preparing a budget report for the full city council that would include details of his own salary for the coming year.

HSE chief executive Brendan Drumm has spoken of the need for HSE staff to be "selfless" in a statement released on Budget day.Last night, a spokeswoman for the HSE said: "We are not making any comment."

Unions representing public servants indicated they believed that Mr Lenihan was appealing to staff on a higher salary scale than their members.

A spokesman for University College Cork said: "To my knowledge it's not on any upcoming agenda."