Racing chief’s pay was over the odds
Ministers signed off on €190,000 salary plus car ‘Impossible’ to get right person on less money
TWO Fianna Fail ministers signed off on a €190,000 annual salary with a company car for the chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland – even though the starting salary set for the role had been just €137,356.
Public Expenditure Minister Michael Mcgrath and Agriculture Minister Charlie Mcconalogue both agreed to top up the package to the tune of more than €50k after HRI warned recruitment would be “extremely difficult” based on lower rates.
HRI ended up appointing Suzanne Eade – who had been serving as their chief financial officer – to the role and she formally took up the post late last year.
Discussions over the salary began last June with the Department of Agriculture sending a copy of a draft contract for Ms Eade to officials in the Department of Public Expenditure the following month.
It said a salary of €190,773 per annum would be awarded but that this would be phased in over a threeyear period.
In the first year, the new chief executive would be paid €174,773, in year two a rate of €182,773, and for years three to seven, the higher amount would apply.
The contract also said a car allowance of €13,150 along with reasonable mileage would be paid to their new chief executive.
In an email, the Department of Public Expenditure told a senior official in the Department of Agriculture that revised rates of pay for such roles had been agreed by government in 2011.
A message from Kieran Dollard of their Senior Pay Policy unit said: “In relation to Horse Racing Ireland, the range was determined as €137,356 to €164,231, the lower point of the range intended as the starting salary for new appointees.”
It said the then chief executive Brian Kavanagh was on a higher salary because he was “already in situ” prior to the government decision.
They asked for a “robust and detailed” business case to be provided to justify why the rate that was agreed in 2011 should not apply to the post.
A copy of that business case said HRI had carried out their own independent review which found chief executives in similar roles were paid between €172,000 and €232,000.
It said: “HRI has informed [the Department] that the terms of employment for the role of CEO of HRI at the existing level benchmark are low in comparison to other semi-states and any further dilution of these terms would make recruitment for the role at the right level extremely difficult.”
Horse Racing Ireland also said they would find it “impossible” to replace their previous CEO with a “similar calibre” person on lower salary figures.
They said the phased salary increase was being put forward because the new
CEO was an internal candidate and was moving from a permanent role to a contract position.
Questions were later raised by officials at the Department of Public Expenditure about payment of the €13,150 car allowance as part of the package.
In response, HRI said that Ms Eade had a car allowance in her previous role and this was an “established term of employment for senior management”.
It said the previous CEO had a company car and that when they looked at similar roles in their industry, a car allowance was seen as “standard”.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Public Expenditure said: “The terms for the appointment of the new CEO of Horse Racing Ireland reflect the responsibilities of the post and the recommendations of an independent assessment.
In November, Minister Michael Mcgrath signed off on the new deal with a basic salary of €190,773 per year and use of a company car.
And in a letter sent to HRI later that month, Agriculture Minister Charlie Mcconalogue said he was “pleased” to convey his consent to the terms and conditions.
Existing benchmark terms are low in comparison