Councils pay €1m annually to senior staff

Top civil servants in local authorities cost about €1m per council annually, despite emergency pay cuts and calls to slash the number of senior lucrative posts.

An Irish Examiner investigation into the pay of top officials shows that although pay rates were cut in 2009, the highest earners remain protected.

With homeowners being forced to pay €100 towards local services, figures reveal many county councils are top-heavy with senior staff, and several people earn in excess of €100,000.

Directors of services — among the most lucrative roles — start on €90,453 and receive annual increments of about €4,000 until they reach €106,900.

Most councils have at least three or four directors of services but some have five or more, including Kerry, Galway, Donegal, Wicklow, Kildare, Carlow, Cork, and Dún Laoighre-Rathdown.

The figures also highlight stark inconsistencies between different authorities, some of which serve similar populations.

Whereas Carlow has a population of 54,532 and five directors of services, Westmeath with a population of 85,961 has just two.

A report in 2010 by the local government efficiency review group, set up by John Gormley, called for the number of staff at director of service level to be reduced “by at least 20%”.

The report also recommended a 15% reduction in the number of staff at senior executive levels, and a 15% reduction in the numbers at senior engineer, executive engineer and assistant engineer levels.

The data reveals:

* South Dublin Council has 8 directors of services;

* Cork County Council has 10 directors of services;

* Kerry’s six director of services are on the top rate of €106,900.

County librarians earn up to €84,000, while Dublin city librarian earns, or will earn, €106,900. Sligo’s chief librarian has a salary of €86,573.

Few councils provided actual salaries, opting to give scales instead, but it is likely most would be at or nearing the higher end of their scale, as increments are awarded each year until the person has reached the top.

A spokesperson for one authority said “increments would only be withheld in very special circumstances”.

Planning expert and UCD academic Diarmuid O’Grada says Ireland needs only four county councils — Dublin, Munster, Leinster, and Connacht /Ulster.

The 2010 review also recommended joint administrative areas for some sets of counties; greater efficiency in procurement; more use of shared services such as joint inspectorates and regional design offices; and better financial management, including annual reporting to the Oireachtas.