Head of county’s enterprise board earned €100k last year

FIGURES show the chief executive of the Clare County Enterprise Board, Eamon Kelly received €100,000 in salary last year.

Mr Kelly did not receive a bonus in 2010 on top of his €99,358 salary. In addition, he received €8,952 in respect of travel and subsistence and confirmed he was not a member of any pension scheme.

The accounts for the Clare County Enterprise Board show it allocated €496,100 in grants last year under its selective financial intervention measure — a marginal rise on the €488,275 in 2009.

In total, the board allocated €697,378 in grants.

The report states: “The level of activity in the Clare Enterprise Board office over the past year clearly indicates a hunger for new starts and sustaining existing businesses, but that demand can only be met by a focused policy for the micro-enterprise sector.

“We know there are great ideas and businesses out there but it means nothing if they don’t get the backing from the financial institutions and government bodies.”

The directors state that “small business has been ravaged by the recession and faith needs to be placed in them to provide the solution. If we can’t invest in them, then we can’t invest in our future. We have no doubt that our ability to support indigenous industry will be the key to pulling out of the recession and to future growth”.

On the staff costs for the three working at the enterprise board, the aggregate amount paid in 2010 was €206,754.