FG frontbench at odds over state employee bonuses

SENIOR members of the Fine Gael front bench are at odds as to whether bonuses for state employees worth hundreds of thousands of euro should be abolished if the party comes to power.

After securing details of the bonuses awarded to civil servants and state officials across a range of Government departments and semi-state agencies over the last 12 months, Fine Gael education spokesman Fergus O’Dowd said the extra payments should be “torn up” even if they formed part of the recipients’ negotiated entitlements.

A bonus of €200,000 was paid to the former chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency, Michael Somers, and €31,395 to the chief executive of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board.