Ó Cuiv uneasy at pay rise

Another government Minister has expressed unease at the recent large pay rises for Ministers and said he would welcome a debate on the whole issue of pay rates in the public and private sector.

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív admitted yesterday to being "uncomfortable" about the pay rise.

Two other Cabinet Ministers, Eamon Ryan and Willie O'Dea, have already said they would welcome further discussion of the ministerial pay increase.

"I have to say I'm very uncomfortable with the kind of wage rise," said Mr Ó Cuív, who added that the difficulty was that in an open economy very high wages were paid to senior executives in private industry.

"The argument that we get from the people in semi-State companies and so on is that if their wages don't follow the private sector we won't get people in. And that's where the slide started."

Asked about the fact that Eamon de Valera had refused several pay rises during his period in public life, Mr Ó Cuív said his grandfather had certainly cut wages at the top when he came into power in 1932.

Mr Ó Cuív added that he would welcome a debate on public sector pay.

The Minister also questioned whether public service wages should follow the private sector.

© 2007 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times