Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said that himself and fellow government ministers will not take a pay cut due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Donohoe, speaking to Pat Kenny on Newstalk, stated that government ministers "have not experienced any of the wage increases in recent years that any other public servant, or indeed many politicians, have."
Government ministers take home a basic TD income of €96,189, with a further additional allowance of €79,150 paid by their department.
Rather than dwell on why cabinet ministers wouldn't take a wage cut, Donohoe instead talked about how he didn't believe it was appropriate to contemplate giving himself or others a "wage improvement" at the current time. On the flip side in New Zealand, Jacinta Ardern and her cabinet took a 20% pay cut to last for six months as a show of solidarity for those in the country currently effected by COVID-19.
Speaking on the economy at large, Donohoe said that a clearer picture of the coronavirus' impact on the economy will be seen through the exchequer returns for April.
"Next week we will get our exchequer returns published for the month of April, and they will bring us closer to understanding what is the impact of this disease on PAYE tax and also on other tax heads that are associated with consumption in our country."
Donohoe also went on to stress that although there is a lot to be concerned about, there is equal amounts that people should be confident and positive about.
"There is much to be concerned about in terms of where we are with falling tax revenue, and the need of additional public money to be spent quickly...
[However] we should be acknowledging the many people who are still at work, who are creating the income and the taxes that allow that money to be spent - and secondly if I look at where we were before we moved into this crisis, the quality of our public finances, the diversity of the Irish economy, the flexibility of many employers and those who work for them I'm absolutely certain those qualities will allow our economy to be rebuilt over time".
