The EU and IMF are ‘deeply unimpressed’ with Irish public sector pay levels

The EU and the IMF are reported to be ‘deeply unimpressed’ at the disparity with counterparts elsewhere.

The salary structures at NTMA remained a deep and profound secret since it was established 21 years ago until details were disclosed to the Public Accounts Committee on 7 January 2011 - after exhaustive probing. No less than six secretaries-general of the Department of Finance tolerated this secrecy despite it conflicting with their own Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies.

These revealed that:

1. The chief executive of NTMA is paid a basic salary €490,000, with provision for a bonus of up to 80% of salary, bringing potential annual remuneration to €882,000 (51 times the Irish minimum wage). The incumbent and his predecessor is the beneficiary of non-standard enhanced pension arrangements.
   
2. The chief executive of NAMA is paid €430,000 with provision for a bonus of up to 60% of salary bringing potential annual remuneration to €688,000 – (40 times the Irish minimum wage).
   
3. The chief executive of NDFA is paid €330,000 with provision for a bonus of up to 60% of salary bringing potential annual remuneration to €528,000 (30 times the Irish minimum wage).
   
4. No less than 16 individuals are being paid more than the Taoiseach now earns - €200,000+
   
5. 103 of the 305 staff in NTMA and its offshoots are paid salaries over €100,000 so, from the perspective of the economically disadvantaged, NTMA is a goldmine that can function with clandestine opacity, immune to overall Government policy on public sector remuneration and completely insulated from trends endured by the majority of citizens.

The grading and pay rates of the  Civil Service Regulations Act 1956 may not apply to NTMA but the National Treasury Management Act 1990 does not confer any privileges with respect to secrecy or derogations from the norms of public accountability.

The salaries of chief executives of counterpart major national debt agencies in 2009, who were trawling for funding from the same sources as Ireland when our authorities raised €35 billion, were as follows:

• The Chief Executive of the Australian Office of Financial Management was paid €250,000 and no bonus to raise debt amounting to €39 billion in 2009 – (remuneration 11 times the minimum wage in Canberra).
• The Commissioner of Public Debt in the United States Bureau of Debt oversees of staff of almost 2,000 people and a departmental budget of €125 million. He was paid less than €120,000 in 2009.
  The Commissioner’s remuneration was 9 times the annualised minimum wage in Washington DC. No US Federal employee earns more than President Obama - €290,000 per annum.
• The Chief Executive of the UK Debt Management Office raised debt of €267 billion in 2009 – over 7 times the debt level raised for Ireland that year. He was paid €188,000, equivalent to 38% of the basic salary of his Irish counterpart. He did not receive a bonus. The Chief Executives remuneration was 14 times the British minimum wage.

The salaries of the chief officers of those institutions providing the resources to bailout Ireland are: President of the IMF €320,275; President of the EU Commission €293,064; President of the ECB €367,863; Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury €207,000.

Is it any wonder they are ‘deeply unimpressed’?

EU, ECB and IMF set to put the jackboot into maudlin Cowen

Ireland endured the consequences of an impaired reputation in the global financial markets since September 2008 but this has now morphed into serious doubts about its credibility and the credibility of its Central Bank Commission.  The market will not trust its numbers.

Financial markets are spooked by the losses in Irish banks.  These had been estimated at €11.2 billion but have risen to €45.55 billion, mainly as a consequence of the toxic cess pit – Anglo Irish Bank.

Will the Central Bank Commission survive the scrutiny of the IMF and the EU? Its principal role is to oversee standards of corporate governance in Irish banks and to vet incumbents appointed to senior roles in the banks.  Will an umbilical link between the disgraced board of FÁS, the State training agency, which has been stood down for grievous failure of corporate governance enhance the credibility of this Commission as an umpire of corporate governance standards? 

National Irish Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Australia Bank engaged in a decade long episode of untrustworthy behaviour which not just undermined the Central Bank from 1988 to 1998 but also undermined the integrity of the national tax system which led to 9 senior managers of National Irish Bank being disqualified to act as an officer of any company.  How can this Commission demonstrate credibility in overseeing the calibre of senior appointments in Irish banks against this background?

Foreign borrowing as a percentage of the Irish net national debt has increased from 28.5% in 2001 to 80.6%. The underlying foreign debt has increased from €10.3 billion to €72 billion. The Irish State deficit from January 2001 to October 2010 has risen to €51.92 billion. This reflects Government expenditure in the decade of €376.85 billion while corresponding tax revenue was €324.9 billion. Retail savings in State institutions account for 13% of the national debt.

The sooner this jaded, depraved, incompetent, lame-duck government of no standards and no class and their administrative peasants and toadies are out of existence the better.