Hollande paid less than 656 staff

MORE THAN 650 French state employees earn more than the president and his prime minister, who both get €14,910 a month (€12,696 net).

President Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault both took a 30% pay cut on taking office and when details of the reduction were published in the Journal Officiel the magazine Challenges asked how that compared to their staff.

The Matignon came back and said that 656 other state employees were paid more than the two heads of the executive.

Of these, 385 are in the Foreign Ministry and ambassadors and other staff get extra "danger pay" depending on where they are based. The magazine said that an ambassador in somewhere like Tunis could earn €6,500 a month or €8,500 in Germany while Bernard Bajolet, the ambassador in Kabul, was paid up to €35,000 a month.

The second highest number is in the Finance Ministry with 193 of the highest-paid civil servants working in France - plus 39 working overseas as economic heads of mission.
Photo: Selbymay