David Cameron thinks public sector is run by 'fat cats' he should look at Ireland where public salaries have remained untouched even with the arrival of the IMF

In June this year, the UK government released the names of 171 public servants who were earning more than £150,000.

John Fingleton, the head of the Office of Fair Trading was the top earner on £259,999 with NHS chief executive David Nicholson, in second place on £255,000. Hold that figure in your head for a moment.

Public sector pay is under attack in the UK as it is in Ireland - on Friday, Eric Pickles, the local government secretary, insisted that he will no longer tolerate salaries higher than David Cameron's basic pay of £142,500.

But if the UK public sector is full of "fat cats", the Irish public sector is full of "morbidly obese cats".

Tomorrow the Irish public face the most austere budget in the nation's history and public sector pay and pensions is at last on the agenda. But it is highly unlikely there will be any cuts that see top earners taking home less than the prime minister.

So back to Fingleton's pay of £255,000. It's not like for like, but the following will give you a flavour of the runaway public sector pay in Ireland.

Runaway pay won't be really tackled in Ireland

The highest paid public sector boss in Ireland takes home a staggering €752,568 (£637,000) – that is Electricity Supply Board chief, Padraig McManus. The average salary at the ESB is €70,000 - making them the highest paid electricity workers in the world.

The second highest paid public sector boss is Declan Collier, the head of the Dublin Airport Authority who is on a package worth €568,100 while the head of An Post is on €500,000 and the head of the forestry commission, Coillte is on a tidy €417,000.

In fact, so much financial cholesterol is coursing through the veins of the Irish public and semi-state sector, a report earlier this summer found that 66 public servants in Ireland receive more than €500,000 each including 37 judges, the head of the controversial National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, and the head of the National Treasury Management Agency, which looks after the country's public finances.

Pay at the upper echelons of the public sector escaped anything but cursory attention in the four-year plan when it was published 10 days ago because it is such a political hot potato.

The government now seems to have grasped the nettle with reports it will cap public sector pay at €250,000.

But it is unlikely to have any immediate impact as it won't include anyone who's under contract at the moment, so it could be some years and some governments down the line before it is implemented. And by then, the country could be further under the water.

Will the government be brave and cut the tail?

So will this government or opposition parties on arrival in the Dail next year be brave enough to cut the tail off and invite the bosses of the semi-state and state sectors to take a voluntary cut now?

It would be an extremely image-unconscious semi-state chief executive who would turn around and say: "No, I'll take you to court on that."

Today the head of Bord Gais John Mullins told RTE he would be happy to work for €250,000. He currently takes home a package of €394,000.

"My basic salary is just above 250 at this point in time I'm unsure whether the 250,000 is a total package cap or whether it's basic salary.

I would do the job for €250,000 … I have 24 months to go and if it has to be capped it has to be capped," Mullins told Morning Ireland.

But it isn't just fat cat salaries in the public sector that is an issue – it is the perks and benefits of workers throughout the system and the fact that neither the four-year plan, the budget or the IMF have tackled the controversial Croke Park Agreement which guarantees public sector pay levels. The IMF will intervene later in 2011 if efficiencies haven't been achieved through reforms, but there is a feeling again not nearly enough mettle is being shown at political level.

Readers in the UK might be shocked to hear that some public sector workers still get paid 30 minutes a week "banking time" to pay in cheques, even though salaries have been paid electronically for an aeon.

Or that some civil servants are entitled to two "privilege" leave days which were originally introduced back in the 1940s to allow them travel back to Dublin from the country after a bank holiday weekend when the trip might have taken a day.

Or that there was controversy last week that some civil servants could avail of a half-paid day's leave for Christmas shopping.

Or that a concert pianist was getting €225,000 for part-time positions as a director and teacher with the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Or that workers in semi-state owned firms including Aer Lingus and Eircom were given a 15% stake in the company by the architect of the Celtic Tiger, Bertie "spend, spend, spend" Ahern.

Debate in the UK on public sector pay is way ahead of Ireland. David Cameron last week received the interim report from Will Hutton who suggests linking top earners salary with those of the lowest to stop the "arms race" in public pay getting out of control.

The review found there were about 20,000 public-sector employees earning more than £117,000, while average salaries for executives were £200,000 for heads of universities, £150,000 for NHS Hospital Trust chief executives, £117,000 for local authority chiefs, £170,000 for four-star generals and £160,000 for permanent secretaries in government departments.

Income Data Services in the UK, an independent body which tracks private and public sector pay, in the UK, said today there were only "handfuls of individuals" in the public sector who earn 20 times the lowest paid.

"One possible perverse effect of the Hutton report is that some organisations might look at this pay review and decided to increase the salaries of the top executives," said Ken Mulhearne, editor of the IDS Pay Report.

The government is likely to announce it will cap public sector and semi-sector salaries to €250,000, but there has to be a more systemic approach which will tackle civil service, politicians pay and semi-state pay.

Some Irish v UK Salaries

UK: Prime minister David Cameron - £142,500.

Ireland: Taoiseach Brian Cowen - €228,446 (£193,250.01)

Who's on top? Ireland

UK: NHS chief executive David Nicolson - £255,000

Ireland: HSE chief executive Cathal Magee – salary of €335,913 (£284,476)

Who's on top? Ireland

Department of finance

UK: Treasury permanent secretary, Sir Nicholas Macpherson £175,000

Ireland: Department of finance's secretary general, Kevin Cardiff €228,446 (£193,250.01)

Who's on top? Ireland

An Post

UK: Royal Mail managing director Mark Middleton £154,999

Ireland: An Post chief executive Donal Connell €500,000 (£423,097.31)

Who's on top? Ireland

Top 10 earners in the Irish public sector (state and semi-state)

1. Head of ESB: €752,568

2. Head of Dublin Airport Authority: €568,100

3. Head of An Post: €500,000

4. Head of Coillte, the forestry commission €417,000

5. Head of Voluntary Health Insurance: €412,003

6. Head of Bord Gais: €394,000

7. Head of Bord na Mona (turf energy agency): €392,000

8. Head of Health Services Executive: €335,913

9. Head of RTE: (TV): €326,000

10. Head of Science Foundation of Ireland: €259,698

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