Irish priests face another pay cut -

Irish priests face another pay cut

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

Priests in the Dublin diocese are facing a 9% reduction in their income this year. This is on top of a 6 per cent pay cut last year.

The 9% cut is due to falling returns from church collections which provide for the salaries of priests in the area.

The basic income for a priest in the diocese is now €24,079 per year, plus up to €2,820 for years of service, for a maximum of €26,899. The basic figure has dropped by more than €4,000 in the past two years.

Priests’ salaries are provided for by the first collection at Sunday masses and are often also provided with accommodation adjoining their place of work.

“When people give more to this fund priests get more; when it goes down they get less”, said a spokesperson for the Dublin diocese.

The recession and the myriad child sex abuse scandals in the church have led to a sharp decrease in the amount collected, with the diocese estimating that donations have fallen by 16 per cent in the past three years.

Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin, is meeting with representatives from parishes throughout the diocese this week, according to the spokesperson.

“The Archdiocese, like many other organisations in these difficult times, is conducting a wide ranging review of all its finances in an attempt to determine what services and projects it is in a position to fund and plan for into the future, and all expenditure and income is being examined thoroughly,” said the spokesperson.

Sources