Staggering

Leo Varadkar (top) tried to secure a salary package of more than €400,000 for the new Dublin Airport Authority boss [Kevin Toland, above]– well above the €250,000 cap set for the position.

Mr Varadkar’s request was flatly refused and Mr Toland, who was never actually offered the higher salary, still took up the post.
But the Department of Transport’s requests to Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin, for Mr Toland, didn’t stop there.
Mr Varadkar attempted to obtain a relocation expenses payment of between €12,000 and €25,000, for Mr Toland.

Then he tried to secure a guarantee from Mr Howlin that Mr Toland’s salary would never be reduced.

As the last details of the package were being prepared, he [Varadkar] wrote: ‘Seems rather trivial that Department of Public Expenditure should seek to micro-manage these things. Surely, they are busy with more important matters.”