No such thing as a recession for top brass in civil service

They say if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. But it seems that in our public service, we pay well over the odds and still the services leave a lot to be desired.

Ireland is a country run by State monopolies, and the legacy of poor performance in all sectors by those companies is there to see.

However, as we reveal today, despite that poor performance, many of the top brass in State companies, agencies and Government departments are earning huge salaries topped off with extravagant bonuses, expenses and allowances, and will retire on very generous pensions well above those of their private sector counterparts. All of which are paid for by the hard-working taxpayer.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has said he is in favour of slashing salaries for top brass in the public sector, but is he just talking tough while allowing such egregious, bloated salaries to rack up around him?

There has been much nonsense spoken by the public sector about extravagance at the top of companies in the private sector. Well, it's time for some home truths.

All of the wages, perks, pensions, bonuses, company cars, and free travel are paid for not out of company profit -- as is the case in the private sector -- but out of hard-earned taxpayers' money.

What's worse is that, in many cases, much of the extravagant wage bill is being paid despite vast inefficiencies.

Today, we reveal here the salaries and bonuses of 22 of the top CEOs of the State quangos, civil servants and university presidents. Some of those CEOs are paid huge sums of money despite presiding over bloated, inefficient, and ineffective State agencies which in reality offer poor services to their customers.

Top of the offenders' list is Padraig McManus of the ESB, the State energy monopoly which has repeatedly been slammed for killing small businesses throughout the country by repeatedly increasing energy charges on their customers in the past 18 months, despite the most recent drop.

According to the latest figures, Mr McManus's salary is €420,993 a year or €35,000 a month. On top of this, he is in receipt of a bonus of up to 17 per cent of his total salary, or €71,000. In addition to this, he is also in receipt of vouched expenses, a guaranteed five-star defined-benefit pension and a luxury company car, all of which is paid for by the taxpayer. In total, Mr McManus's annual package is worth in excess of €700,000.

Despite the continuing calamities in our health service, it seems Professor Brendan Drumm is a man doing very well for himself at taxpayers' expense. His annual salary is €371,291 a year, or €30,940 a month, and while he is normally entitled to a performance bonus worth up to 20 per cent of his salary, it is not being paid this year. He receives vouched expenses and is given a €15,000-a-year car allowance. Prof Drumm has a huge pension to look forward to when he steps down, and his total package is worth at least €600,000 a year.

Next up is Declan Collier, CEO of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), which has suffered a major slump in passenger numbers and wants to raise charges to make up the shortfall. He has been heavily criticised for the huge remuneration package he receives.

According to official figures released to us, Mr Collier is paid a basic salary of €348,000 per year, or €29,000 a month. However, like many at the top of the public sector, he is in command of whopping bonuses, expenses, VIP access at the airport, company car and a gold-plated pension. When all these add-ons are factored in, his total package is worth a staggering €638,000 a year, all paid for by the taxpayer.

Mr Collier's pay and package has been heavily criticised by Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary, who this weekend, while speaking to the Sunday Independent, described him as "a mere waste of space".

He said: "Collier is nothing more than a waste of space, who gets rewarded with almost €700,000 a year. The DAA has been bankrupted by the abortive second terminal that nobody wants. He is overseeing the demise of Dublin Airport and, what's worse, Lenihan appoints him to the board of AIB as a public interest director. Totally ludicrous, but unfortunately utterly predictable for this useless Government."

Elsewhere, despite also being heavily criticised for his company's continual hikes in prices, Bord Gais CEO John Mullins manages to pocket a whopping salary of €288,000 per year. To his credit Mr Mullins did take a voluntary pay cut of 10 per cent, bringing his pay to €259,000 for the year, or €21,583 a month.

However, like Cabinet ministers, his pension is not affected by this reduction. In total, his pension payments, health insurance contributions and the cost of his company car add another €73,000 to his package. Not bad.

Out in Montrose, at our beloved State broadcaster, things are no better. Despite a mounting debt of almost €70m and the threat of job losses looming large, Director General Cathal Goan is being paid €260,726 per year, or €21,725 a month. He also receives €26,400 a year in a car allowance and he is also entitled to a bonus, which we are told will not be paid this year. He is also entitled to free business travel incurred in the performance of his work.

Next, to our much criticised public transport system and Dr John Lynch, CEO of CIE, who is well known for his close Fianna Fail ties. He receives €239,000 a year in his basic salary.

However, he is entitled to a series of extras that add greatly to his package. In addition to his generous pension, which is paid for with taxpayers' money, he has a luxury company car and the use of a driver. He is also entitled to free travel for life on all CIE services.

The CEO of Irish Rail, Dick Fearn, gets a whopping salary of €256,000 per year and is currently operating without his bonus, to which he is entitled. He can travel free on any Irish Rail services first class, and with his

pension taken into account his annual package is worth over €400,000 a year.

In the university sector, despite Ireland having no world-class colleges (an admission by the president of UCC, Michael Murphy), UCD's president Dr Hugh Brady receives €237,784, as do Mr Murphy and Trinity College Provost John Hegarty. None of the seven Irish universities comes anywhere in the top 30 colleges in the world.

Dr Brady, whose college's deficit has soared under his tenure and his controversial appointment of senior management and star academics, also benefits from the perk of the use of a campus mansion, the University Lodge, which was renovated at a cost of over €3m prior to him taking residence. Many of the expenses incurred are paid directly by his office and are not included in the above figure. Dr Brady also has a driver and, including his pension contributions, his total package is said to be worth well in excess of €500,000 per year.

Other big earners in UCD include Des Fitzgerald, vice-president for research. Last year, on top of his whopping €279,788 salary, he earned €84,000 in bonuses according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act. In total, Prof Fitzgerald's package is estimated to be worth €500,000.

Over at IDA Ireland, the State agencies responsible for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), things aren't much better. Last year the IDA was behind the creation of 8,837 jobs in new and existing companies but revealed that 10,044 were lost in such firms. Despite such poor figures, CEO Barry O'Leary is paid over €222,000 a year in his basic salary, has a lavish pension, vouched expenses, and has a luxury company car at his discretion.

Even some of the more successful semi-State CEOs are on salaries way above the average industrial wage and command additional perks, like company car entitlements and expense accounts.

Down at the Four Courts, CEO of the Courts Service Brendan Ryan earns a salary of €221,929 per year. While he doesn't get any bonuses or expenses or have access to a company car, the addition of his lavish pension brings the value of his total package to over €300,000.

The Ombudsman and Information Commissioner, Emily O'Reilly, a former journalist, is not doing too badly either. She has a gross salary of €243,000 a year, on which she has taken a voluntary cut of 10 per cent. Similar to a High Court judge, the Ombudsman also receives an annual expenses allowance of €9,057.96.

Despite the falling tourist numbers to Ireland, Failte Ireland Chief Shaun Quinn gets €177,000 a year, a pension and a company car.

Bord Bia CEO Aidan Cotter gets €166,000 a year salary, as well as a generous pension.

Garda Ombudsman Commissioners Carmel Foley and Conor Brady get €167,000 a year plus vouched expenses, while the chairman of the Garda Ombudsman Commission took a voluntary €40,000 pay reduction on taking his post.

At Enterprise Ireland, CEO Frank Ryan is paid €222,000 a year. He has a company car, receives vouched expenses and will also retire on a wohpper of a pension.

On a more modest scale, the CEO of TG4, Pol O Gallchoir, receives €180,000 a year in salary and is normally entitled to performance-related pay; however, he received none in 2008. He is also a member of the gold- plate pension scheme, and has a company car.

Two years ago, the Hay report was presented to the Department of Finance to determine the pay and conditions of the CEOs of public sector agencies. It appears that little attention has been paid to that.

The legacy of waste and overpaying across the Irish public sector is beyond comprehension. All of the above mentioned are cosseted, well protected members of the establishment who will never be exposed to the harsh realities of this recession.

If they were, and Brian Lenihan did slash and burn their salaries, maybe they might improve their act a bit.

I doubt it though.

Sunday Independent