Ryanirplot, on the contrary, I think if you were to winkle out of some of the contractors what their pay (and total deal is) is you might be surprised. Anyway, we are only arguing around the real issue, which is that total Ryanair crew costs are significantly lower than those of other airlines - mainly because the overall pilot group gets much less in pay and benefits than occurs elsewhere. This statement is not disproved by the fact that some pilots are very happy with their "take home" pay.
BTW, I think there are recently arrived captains on much less than you suggest particularly, but not exclusively, at bases outside of the U.K. (We also need to refer to the "Ryanair- waiting for line training" thread here to provide a better picture for prospective new joiners).