The Fianna Fáil parliamentary party has heard criticism of pay rises for chief executives at semi-State companies.
A raft of pay increases have been approved in recent months after recession-era constraints on top-level pay were eased last year.
The Government has faced criticism over the pay increases but defended them on the basis that they are needed to compete for top-level talent.
At a the weekly meeting of Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators, Wicklow-Wexford deputy Malcolm Byrne said he was opposed to many of the proposed increases. He said he wasn’t opposed to performance-related pay increases but argued there were instances where there was no evidence of improved service delivery to the public, and asked how salaries higher than the Taoiseach’s could be justified.
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Sources at the meeting said the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said the issue of top-level pay was something that needed to be addressed, and that there had been issues around recruitment.
In 2011, the then minister for public expenditure Brendan Howlin introduced, with some exceptions, a general pay cap of €250,000 for chief executives of semi-State companies. In March of 2024, the then government established a Senior Posts Remuneration Committee (SPRC) which was tasked with reviewing chief executive pay rates in commercial State companies.
In the run-in to its report issuing, several semi-State companies sought pay increases for their chief executives. The SPRC concluded the existing system was not optimal in serving the interests of the commercial State bodies, the State or the taxpayer. Cabinet decided to approve a banded salary structure for chief executives last April, kicking off the round of pay hikes in earnest.
[ The Irish Times view on semi-State CEO pay: end the procrastinationOpens in new window ]
The meeting also discussed mental health issues and RTÉ’s recent report on people with mental illness in the prison system.
Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health Mary Butler gave a presentation on the €240 million Central Mental Hospital in Portrane, a state-of-the-art facility opened in November 2022.
Some 93 patients have been transferred there from the old Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, with 114 beds now open and 16 more beds to open shortly, the meeting was told.
