More than €1 million will be spent this year on the salaries of the Taoiseach’s eight political and media advisers, reports Breaking News.
Details of the pay packages have been released by the Department of Public Expenditure.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin currently employs eight special advisers, including a deputy secretary and an assistant secretary, reports Breaking News.
Each of the eight advisers earns over €100,000 a year. Altogether, their annual wages total just over €1 million.
The highest earner among them is the deputy secretary, who receives more than €210,000 annually, reports Breaking News.
For comparison, the top-paid special adviser in the UK is Cork-born Morgan McSweeney, who serves as chief of staff to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and earns €185,000 per year.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín criticised the arrangement, saying that those in senior government roles are disconnected from the realities facing ordinary people.
“This is outrageous. Why does the Taoiseach need eight special advisers? These salaries are higher than their British counterparts. One year of special advisers’ salaries for the Taoiseach is three times the amount of the cost of the bicycle shed and it’s ongoing, it’s happening every single year. I think that cavalier attitude towards taxpayers’ money is evident right at the top of the Government, and I think there needs to be change,” reports Breaking News.
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