12 Rehab staff paid salaries of over €100k

Salaries amounting to more than €100,000 were paid to 12 senior staff members at the Rehab Group last year, with many also given generous perks including company cars and bonuses of up to €14,000.

The details were released in a statement from the disability group last night and form part of the information it has provided to the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee, which is examining how it spends €83m in State funding.

The figures show that 77 staff earn salaries of more than €65,000 — which is considered a “Grade 8” pay scale under Government pay scales, and therefore must be disclosed to the HSE by all agencies with which it has service level agreements.

Of those staff members:

-Some 26 earn between €70,000 and €79,999;

-Six earn between €80,000 and €89,999;

-Seven earn between €90,000 and €99,999;

-Four earn between €100,000 and €109,999;

-Two earn between €130,000 and €139,999;

-One earns between €140,000 and €149,999;

-Three earn between €150,000 and €159,999;

-One earns between €170,000 and €179,999.

One more — CEO Angela Kerins — earns a basic salary of €240,000. When car allowances and pension entitlements are taken into account, her annual package exceeds €272,000.

The Rehab statement said all eight executive team members have a “contractual entitlement” to performance-related bonuses and amounts of between €6,000 and €14,200 were paid in respect of 2012. It said Ms Kerins — who was entitled to a €84,000 bonus — as well as directors of finance and of human resources, waived bonus payments.

The PAC wants to hear from the remuneration committee of the Rehab board which sets the salaries. It is also awaiting details of the pension paid to Frank Flannery — who retired as CEO in 2006 and stepped down as a member of the board earlier this week.

Last night’s statement defended the salaries, saying they are set using the “market median” and guided by the Accounting and Reporting by Charities Statement of Recommended Practice standards.

PAC chairman John McGuinness said the awarding of bonuses and company cars are among the issues that his committee intends to pursue. The PAC will consider a response to the answers to 12 questions it submitted to Rehab at tomorrow’s meeting before holding further hearings.

The committee wrote to Rehab on Monday seeking the attendance of Mr Flannery but had not received any indication of his intentions as of last night.

Mr McGuinness strongly criticised Rehab’s handling of PAC requests, saying it “dragged out the issue”. He said it would have been “much better and far less controversial” if Rehab had been forthcoming “from day one”.