TD calls on Kerry and Glanbia bosses to return part of bonuses

THE top executives of Kerry Group and Glanbia have been urged by former food minister Ned O’Keeffe, TD, to hand back large chunks of their bonus payments as a gesture of solidarity with farmers trying to cope with the worse milk price in Europe.

Mr O’Keeffe, a Fianna Fáil candidate for the European Parliament in Ireland South, directed his plea at Kerry Group chief executive Stan McCarthy and Glanbia group managing director John Moloney.

The Cork East politician said Mr McCarthy should hand back 70% of his bonus and Mr Moloney should return 50% of his.

Mr McCarthy earned €1.5 million gross income from Kerry Group last year — €125,000 more than the earnings of his predecessor, Hugh Friel.

His gross income consisted of €810,000 salary, €578,000 performance benefit, €104,000 pension contribution and €33,000 benefit-in-kind.

The total package in respect of Glanbia group managing director John Moloney was €1.16m, down from €1.19m a year earlier.

It includes a basic salary of €509,000 and a performance-related bonus of €406,000.

Glanbia announced earlier this year that all plc non-executive directors, and Mr Moloney himself, had taken a 10% salary cut as part of a €16m cost-cutting plan that also included 210 across-the-board redundancies.

All colleagues reporting directly to the Glanbia group managing director have taken a 5% salary cut.

There is a global recruitment ban in place and all discretionary spends and expenses are curtailed and reduced.

However, Mr O’Keeffe said both Mr McCarthy and Mr Moloney should give example to farmers by handing back the percentages of their bonus payments along the lines he had suggested.

“It is absolutely absurd that the chief executive of any company should be paid these kinds of salaries or bonuses. I will be calling on the Government to bring in legislation that will cap all salaries and bonuses at realistic figures,” the former minister said.

Mr O’Keeffe said the chairman and boards of co-ops have a serious obligation to see that their executives are not overpaid with salaries and the type of huge bonuses which only came into being in recent years.

“I would like to see more sincerity from co-op chairmen and board members, who should not regard their executives as infallible. Bluff and bluster is of little value to farmers. It only bolsters up executives and put them in ivory towers,” he said.

Mr O’Keeffe also said it was ridiculous at this time to be talking about increasing milk quota due to the depressed state of the industry which is facing into a world price scene that will make Irish farming totally uncompetitive.