Anger over €25k bonus for head of consumer agency

THE payment of a €25,000 bonus to National Consumer Agency (NCA) chief executive, Ann Fitzgerald, was strongly criticised yesterday by opposition politicians and former supermarket boss Ben Dunne.

The payment, which comes on top of a salary of €186,891 was paid to Ms Fitzgerald last summer, just as the consumer watchdog undertook a campaign to highlight exorbitant prices in the Irish retail sector.

Fine Gael enterprise and employment spokesman Leo Varadkar said paying such large bonuses “was a disgrace.” He renewed his party’s call for all public service bonuses to be halted.

“It’s unclear what the bonus was paid for, when you take into account rising prices and the flight of shoppers over the border,” he added.

Mr Dunne said the National Consumer Agency “hasn’t a clue”. Commenting on Ms Fitzgerald’s bonus he said: “It’s only the tip of the iceberg. We are running this country into the ground. They’re a bunch of amateurs.”

An NCA spokeswoman responded by pointing out that the bonus had been paid several months ago and referred to Ms Fitzgerald’s service for the year 2007.

In a statement the NCA said: “Decisions of this nature are entirely a matter for the board and the remunerations committee, and any future decisions will be made independently in the same fashion.”

The most high-profile members of the NCA board are financial adviser Eddie Hobbs and Celia Larkin, the former partner of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Sinn Féin spokesman Killian Forde said: “You cannot blame Ann Fitzgerald, the problem here is the board, which like nearly all others is packed out with Fianna Fáil party hacks who see no problem with personal enrichment from state funds. We need a new system of truly independent board selection.”