Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has announced he is taking a 5% pay cut next year, as a symbolic gesture.
He was speaking at the launch of Fine Gael's Budget proposals, which include 5,000 voluntary redundancies in the civil service.
The party is also suggesting a freeze on pay rises and increments for those in the public sector earning more than €50,000 a year.
Fine Gael says its proposals are aimed at stabilising State finances while protecting the vulnerable.
The party is also calling for a €1.5bn fee for banks using the State guarantee scheme.
Party leader Enda Kenny said that he has written to the Paymaster General asking for his own pay to be reduced by 5% next year.
He said this would not affect the ISEQ or bring back Lehman Brothers but was a symbolic gesture.
And while he said he was not calling for other TDs to follow his lead, his two colleagues at the news conference, Richard Burton and Kieran O'Donnell, said they would follow suit.
Sinn Féin also published a pre-Budget submission and called for a focus on job creation to get people back to work rather than reliant on welfare.
