The IFA hustings in Carrick-on-Shannon on Wednesday night heard strong criticism of salary increases awarded last year to IFA director general Damian McDonald and the association president Tim Cullinan.

Well-known Sligo IFA activist Eddie Davitt asked why the salary increases of April 2022 had not been debated by the association’s national council before being agreed.

Davitt also questioned whether the pay hikes were merited.

However, presidential candidate Martin Stapleton – who was on the remuneration committee which sanctioned the salary increases – pointed out that all the agreed procedures had been followed.

“We made a decision to establish a remuneration committee to decide the salaries of the director general, the president and the deputy president,” he said.

“That remuneration committee met last year and all it decided to do was meet our obligations around the contract that was signed regarding the director general’s salary,” Stapleton explained.

“We did the best we could to cover inflation over the four-year period. We increased the president’s salary and the deputy president’s salary pro-rata with that,” he added.

“This decision was made in accordance with what [national] council had laid down in the rule book for us to do.”

Asked from the floor by Davitt why the remuneration committee had not informed or consulted with the national council before awarding the pay increases, Stapleton pointed out that the council had asked the remuneration committee to make the decision.

Fears of a possible leak to the press was the “sole reason” why the proposed salary increases had not been put on the council agenda that day, he explained.

“So, we kept it quiet and went straight into council and announced what we were proposing to do,” Stapleton said.

He pointed out that council had the authority to overturn the decision. What the remuneration committee had done was to honour a contract that McDonald had agreed with the IFA leaders when he joined the staff in 2017, Stapleton explained.

Last year’s pay increases saw McDonald’s salary jump by around €30,000 to €215,988. This is in line with the salary of the secretary general of the Department of Agriculture.

The salary of IFA president Tim Cullinan increased by €20,000 to €140,000. The deputy president’s salary moved up €5,000 to €40,000.

Asked for his position on Davitt's questions and remarks, presidential candidate Francie Gorman said he was not going to comment on staff performance “at a public meeting”.

“If we were to comment on staff in a public forum like this, we’d probably have no one working for us,” Gorman maintained

This stance drew a light-hearted comment from Davitt, when he claimed that Gorman was “already a politician”.

However, Gorman said he would seek changes if elected into manner in which the director general’s salary is set, and demand an input from the president into the remuneration process.

“If you are going to renew the director general’s contract, or if you are going to appoint a new director general, as president, you have got to have an input into what he is paid. That is the weakness there. And if I was elected president, I would like to see that change,” Gorman said.

Forestry

Forestry was another hot topic at the Carrick-on-Shannon hustings - which were for IFA members in counties Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim.

Asked what they would do to prevent the wholesale planting of land in the northwest, both Gorman and Stapleton called for an increased differential in the forestry grants and premiums that were paid to farmers compared to those available to forestry investors.

However, the candidates insisted that individual landowners had to retain the right to plant their own land or to sell it to the highest bidder.