ESB boss under pressure over €750k salary

THE ESB boss is coming under increasing pressure over his €750,000 salary, which a Fianna Fáil TD said is “not acceptable” when householders face a 5% rise in electricity bills.

Chris Andrews, a backbencher from Dublin South East, said there should be a “significant reduction” in the salaries of semi-state bosses and that nobody could defend the €752,668 earned last year by the highest paid, Padraig McManus. His earnings have ballooned by about €100,000 a year from €495,227 in 2006. He was paid just under €400,000 in bonuses in the past four years.

This bonus along with pension contributions, fees and other perks tipped his salary over the €750,000 even though he agreed to a 10% pay cut in April.