SALARY:THE GOOD news for the next president is that he or she will earn the full amount of €325,507 currently attached to the job and not the reduced sum the Government is seeking to introduce, the Dáil has been told.
This is because the legislation which will see the president’s salary reduced to €249,014, in line with planned cuts in judges’ pay, has not yet been passed.
The bad news is that the first decision the successful candidate may have to take is to voluntarily cut his or her pay.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin reminded TDs yesterday that President Mary McAleese had taken a voluntary salary cut and pointedly indicated that “a similar facility” would be open to the new president.
Mr Howlin told TDs Luke “Ming” Flanagan and Eoghan Murphy that Mrs McAleese’s successor would suffer a reduction in salary once the Single Pension Scheme and Remuneration Bill is passed. It is currently before the Oireachtas.
The president’s salary is set at the rate of the chief justice’s pay, plus 10 per cent. This salary, which is subject to the usual taxes, is protected under the Constitution, which provides that the emoluments and allowances of the president shall not be reduced while in office.
In October 2009, Mrs McAleese announced she would take a voluntary 10 per cent cut in her annual salary. A month later, she said she would be taking a 12.5 per cent cut in her personal allowances for the following year. Last year, she voluntarily surrendered €65,102 (20 per cent) of her salary.
Meanwhile, Mrs McAleese has returned more than 60 gifts she received from visiting dignitaries over her 14 years in office. A €650 limit applies to the value of political gifts that may be accepted generally. Although the president is exempt from this, Mrs McAleese has voluntarily accepted it.
Recent gifts from President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth are to be kept in Áras an Uachtaráin while the Department of the Taoiseach considers what to do with the remaining gifts.