At least 19 top earners working in education or public broadcasting have agreed to take a salary cut, the education and culture ministry said on Monday.

Ministers Jet Bussemaker and Sander Dekker had made a ‘moral appeal’ to 26 people earning more than the official limit for public sector pay to reduce their earnings.

Of the 26 high earners, 19 agreed to a salary reduction. Most had agreed their pay contracts before the new limits on public sector salaries were introduced.

Four people – two in education, one in media and one in the cultural sector – refused to comply. Two others have either left or are leaving this year and one failed to react, the ministry said. No names were made public but the refusniks will be ‘invited for a chat’, the ministers said.

The new rules mean eventually no-one in the public sector should earn more than a government minister. Institutions have a seven-year changeover period to comply. A minister currently earns a basic salary of €135,000.