Few countries pay their top politicians as well as Ireland. When Bertie Ahern recently accepted a 14% pay rise, it was the 26th of his ten-year tenure as taoi-seach (prime minister). Since 1997, the taoiseach's salary, which will be €310,000 ($446,000) after the new award, has doubled. Mr Ahem is now better paid than most counterparts, in Europe and elsewhere (see chart). These include America's George Bush, who earns $400,000, Britain's Gordon Brown, who gets £188,849 ($389,700), and France's Nicolas Sarkozy, soon to earn €240,000. These men govern far bigger countries (Ireland has 4.2m people). But that did not sway the top-salary review body that aims to keep the pay of senior politicians and civil servants competitive with rates in the private sector.
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