Bonuses of €150,000 waiting to be claimed
Colm McCarthy called for a pay review in his report
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THE heads of three semi-state companies are entitled to further bonus payments totalling €150,000 which they have not yet drawn down.
An Post last night confirmed that chief executive Donal Connell is entitled to a bonus of €97,000 earned between 2006 and 2009, which has not been claimed.
And Bord na Mona said that some €50,000 had been earned by executive director Gabriel D'Arcy for meeting targets, but had also not been claimed.
And Irish National Stud CEO John Osborne is entitled to a bonus payment, but said last night payment was "unlikely". He did not state how much he was entitled to.
"(The bonus) is subject to the approval of the remuneration committee," he added.
He said that the committee was advised by the Department of Agriculture "of the undesirability, as they see it, of awarded bonuses at present".
He said the bonus was "unlikely" to be awarded, "despite contract".
Earlier this week, the McCarthy Report called for a pay review across the semi-states, amid repeated claims that remuneration across the public sector is out of step with the private sector.
Top executives in commercial semi-state bodies are entitled to a maximum-performance bonus worth 25pc of basic salary in a given year. But they are also entitled to claim another 10pc of salary over three years if they reach performance targets.
The generous bonus entitlements come despite losses at some of the semi-states.
In 2009, Dublin Airport Authority chief executive Declan Collier was paid a bonus of €51,000 even though the authority recorded losses of €13m.
His pay packet for 2009 was €568,000, but he refused to state why he was awarded a bonus. He told the Dail Transport Committee there were a "range of objectives", but could not reveal the targets because it was a matter for the board.
Not until February this year were the commercial state bodies told to suspend bonus payments.
In the intervening period, the bosses of port companies, the ESB, EirGrid, Bord na Mona and other companies enjoyed lucrative salaries, pension top-ups and bonus payments which were up to 35pc of basic salary.
- Paul Melia
Irish Independent
