Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

Since becoming Minister I have written to the chairpersons of university governing bodies requesting them to ask all relevant individuals, including presidents, earning in excess of €200,000 to make voluntary waivers of salary. While two individuals, one of whom is a university head, have agreed to make personal arrangements with their employer regarding a deduction of the amount of salary above €200,000, there have been no voluntary waivers made for the benefit of the State. I cannot enforce a voluntary waiver. Nor can I insist that a waiver, if made, follows any particular format. For instance, an employee is free to waive a portion of his or her salary in favour of a charity or his or her employer. The Government has decided that a salary ceiling of €200,000 will apply to future appointments to senior positions across the public service.

See this speech in context