THE Lord Mayor of Cork said he will take a voluntary 10% cut in his 92,672 salary as the council faces a range of budget cuts.
Fine Gael’s Cllr John Buttimer made the announcement in the Council Chamber last night. He said he was planning to propose such a cut when the council prepares its annual budget in December but brought it forward to this month as officials had to introduce 1.25m in cuts after Government payments were reduced.
The voluntary cut will reduce the Lord Mayor’s salary to 83,405. The Lord Mayor also receives a 16,724 payment that all councillors receive. This has not been reduced.
The Lord Mayor has one of the highest salary of any Irish mayor and is on a par with the salary of some prime ministers of other countries. It has been under the spotlight this summer with repeated calls for it to be reduced.
“It was always viewed that the Lord Mayor’s salary should be equal to that of a TD. However given the state of the Council finances it was my intention to seek a 10% cut in salary in December but I am bringing that proposal forward to tonight,” he said.