Plus, King Henry's new conquest, RTÉ and TG4 make nice, and the clickbaity WSJ Browsing through the annual reports of the National Gallery and National Library for 2024, both published last week, we noticed how modestly the people who guard our cultural heritage are paid. Dr Audrey Whitty, the director of the library, got a salary of €127,868 that year. There are no bonuses or benefits-in-kind attached to the position. And the director of the National Gallery, Dr Caroline Campbell, was paid €128,724.
If there are two commandments in Irish politics - get thyself elected and mind thy seat - there might be room for another about boosting thy salary. But do government wages in this country need an overhaul?
Venkatakrishnan said that, while the government needed to restrict rising public sector wages, the inflationary impact of pay rises was an issue across the UK economy. While UK wage growth has slowed in recent months it is still running at an annual rate of 5.7% in the public sector, excluding bonuses. Private sector wage growth is running at an average of 4.8%.