ENDA KENNY'S surprise decision to take a pay cut will be raised at Fine Gael's parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday as many backbenchers are unsure whether they should follow suit.

Of the 12 backbenchers available for comment yesterday, half said they are undecided, four said they will take it and two said they will not be taking the cut.

Kenny surprised everyone at his party's pre-budget press conference on Friday when he declared he had instructed the Paymaster General to make a 5% cut in his TD salary of €106,581 for 2009.

The Fine Gael leader was clear it was a personal decision but his colleagues Richard Bruton and Kieran O'Donnell (who were at the conference) were not forewarned about the plan and found themselves agreeing to the same cut after being probed by journalists.

Donegal TD Dinny McGinley and Noel Coonan from Tipperary North are among those considering taking a cut. They expect a decision will be reached at Wed­nesday's meeting.

PJ Sheehan from Cork Southwest said he has yet to decide if he will follow Enda Kenny's example. Longford's James Bannon said he was considering it and "hadn't had time to think about it". David Staunton from Cork East and Ulick Burke from Galway East are also undecided.

Wicklow TD Andrew Doyle said he admired his leader's decision but would not be following suit. "I'm self-employed and have to pay someone to run my farm."

Pat Breen in Clare said, "I won't be taking the cut. It's a matter for the party leader who took it as a symbolic gesture."

Most of the TDs contacted said they admired Kenny's leadership and Michael Darcy from Wexford, Deirdre Clune from Cork South Central, Paul Connaughton from East Galway and Frank Feighan from Roscommon all said they would be taking the same cut. Feighan said, "I think it is a noble gesture given the state the country is in."