Payments: Irish Water regulator splashed out €202,000 in bonuses

THE agency that regulates Irish Water paid out €202,638 in bonus payments to its staff in 2017 as losses reduced by 15pc to €1.09m.

According to the 2017 annual report published by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), the bonus payments to staff in 2017 followed bonus payments of €238,885 in 2016.

Over the past nine years, the CRU has paid out €2.3m in bonuses to staff in a scheme that has approval from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

The performance-related pay model was introduced when the regulator was established in 1999 and does not apply to senior management.

The CRU reduced its losses to €1.09m as revenues increased by 6pc from €14.9m to €15.9m.

The CRU is responsible for setting prices for semi-State companies such as Bord Gáis and Irish Water.

The report shows that the CRU incurred €1.02m costs in relation to judicial review litigation concerning the CRU’s activities in the electricity market here.

Eight staff members earned more than €100,000, with chairperson Paul McGowan (centre) the top earner at €171,000. Mr McGowan was appointed in February 2017.

Commissioner Garrett Blaney (left) received €152,000 and Commissioner Aoife MacEvilly received €142,000.