Requests for higher pay for public bodies' bosses denied 

The IHREC said the higher rate better reflected the range of responsibilities involved in the job and said they had the support of Minister Roderic O’Gorman. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

The Department of Public Expenditure rebuffed two requests for higher salaries for incoming bosses of two public bodies.

The Department of Agriculture had been looking for an €145,000 pay deal for the chief executive of a new Office for Fairness and Transparency in the agri-food sector but were told they would have to settle for more than €40,000 less.

Meanwhile, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) went looking as well for an enhanced package for its new director last year, also at a rate of just over €145,000.

However, they were told they would have to make do with a lower rate of around €129,000 per year, according to records released under FOI.

In a business case to the Department of Public Expenditure, the IHREC said the higher rate better reflected the range of responsibilities involved in the job.

They said they had the support of Minister Roderic O’Gorman and that the existing salary for the role had been lower than what was originally intended because of the “economic climate” of the time.

The business case said: “The complexity and the size of the organisation has since grown significantly, and will continue to do so over the coming years.” It said the salary for their director should be matched with similar-sized organisations such as the Courts Service, the Policing Authority, and the Garda Ombudsman.

The IHREC said that what they were looking for would represent a €33,000 difference and could be covered by their existing budget.

However, the Department of Public Expenditure were not agreeable and instead said an annual package of €129,351 would apply to the role.

They said this would be based on a “director’s allowance” of €14,084 and the fourth point of the civil service principal officer higher scale, which was €115,267.

The department also said long service increments would eventually bring the overall annual package to more than €140,000.

In correspondence with the Department of Public Expenditure, the Department of Agriculture also argued for an enhanced package for the CEO of a newly created agency.

They said the salary at the Office of Fairness and Transparency in the Agri-Food Supply Chain should be set at Assistant Secretary level – which then started at €145,283-per-year – to reflect the importance of the role.

It said Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue supported this and the salary was “in keeping” with the requirements of the job.

With approval slow to come, the department asked for an update saying Minister McConalogue was “anxious to commence recruiting”.

The Department of Public Expenditure did not however, agree the role merited the type of salary being sought.

They said they would be agreeable to sanction the post at principal officer higher level, which starts at around €103,000 per annum.

Officials at the Department of Agriculture said they should probably proceed rather than try to further negotiate as it would be quicker to hire someone that way.

An email said: “If a suitable candidate cannot be found at this level of remuneration, further communications can take place.” Asked about the records, the IHREC said they had nothing further to add while the Department of Agriculture did not respond to a request for comment.

The Department of Public Expenditure said: “[We engage] with other departments in the normal course on requests for funding and pay in line with the relevant statutory frameworks.

“The terms agreed for recruitment to the posts are published in the candidate information booklets, and each post is subject to an open competitive recruitment process.”