Former IFA deputy president Derek Deane has told RTE that the pay package for the association's general secretary Pat Smith is higher than €450,000, which he deemed “unacceptable”.
Asked to confirm his previous statements that Smith was paid in the region of €400,000 per year, Deane said: “In fact, the number is quite substantially higher. I learned to my horror in the last couple of days – it’s in excess of €450,000 for 2013. I think this is totally unacceptable at grassroot level in the association and that’s why I felt it so important to make a statement on it.”
Deane argued that the salary of the IFA’s general secretary was traditionally linked to that of his counterpart in the Department of Agriculture, but a gap emerged when salaries of top civil servants were cut by “30% to 40%” between 2008 and 2009.
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“From an association point of view, farmers need to know and members need to know on the ground where their money is spent,” he said. “They are paying their dues to the association, they expect a good service and I think we have to be totally transparent because, at the end of the day, I’m only interested in using a service that is transparent and I can see value for money.”
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Title: Deane goes public with IFA pay row
Former IFA deputy president Derek Deane has told RTE that the pay package for the association's general secretary Pat Smith is higher than €450,000, which he deemed “unacceptable”.
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Asked to confirm his previous statements that Smith was paid in the region of €400,000 per year, Deane said: “In fact, the number is quite substantially higher. I learned to my horror in the last couple of days – it’s in excess of €450,000 for 2013. I think this is totally unacceptable at grassroot level in the association and that’s why I felt it so important to make a statement on it.”
Deane argued that the salary of the IFA’s general secretary was traditionally linked to that of his counterpart in the Department of Agriculture, but a gap emerged when salaries of top civil servants were cut by “30% to 40%” between 2008 and 2009.
“From an association point of view, farmers need to know and members need to know on the ground where their money is spent,” he said. “They are paying their dues to the association, they expect a good service and I think we have to be totally transparent because, at the end of the day, I’m only interested in using a service that is transparent and I can see value for money.”
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