Updated at 10pm
THE LONG-AWAITED Con Lucey report on how the Irish Farmers Association manages its affairs landed today.
It follows weeks of controversy at the farming lobby group, which led to its General Secretary Pat Smith and then its President Eddie Downey stepping down in the wake of a pay scandal.
Lucey is a former chief economist at the IFA.
His report recommends an array of sweeping changes at the farming organisation – including the creation of a new post of ‘Secretary’ which should be separate to that of General Secretary or CEO.
Pay for top officials
The report reveals that Smith was paid almost €3.5 million in pay and pension contributions during his seven year tenure in charge of the organisation. It also details salary and other payment details of Downey and his predecessors as President, John Bryan and Padraig Walshe.
Here are Pat Smith’s pay details…
Lucey notes that the IFA relies on “a relatively small executive team of dedicated professional staff”. Salaries for executive staff are broadly in line with pay for top officials in the Civil Service, the economist finds.
My overall conclusion is that salary levels of IFA Executive Staff are broadly in line with those of the grades in the Civil Service (Assistant Principal, Principal Officer and Assistant Secretary) with whom they interact, when all relevant factors are taken into account. However, the spread between top and bottom is wider in IFA.
Lucey says that future pay determinations “should continue to be the responsibility of the General Secretary/Chief Executive, in consultation with the President and Deputy President. This is an essential requirement for IFA to retain and recruit staff”.
Ultimately, it is market forces that determine pay levels in the IFA. IFA has to be able to recruit the best available talent from the public or private sector. Any move away from this is likely to have a negative impact on the quality of staff and the motivation of staff.
Division of powers
Lucey says the General Secretary, who is already the CEO under the organisation’s rules, should in future be known as the Chief Executive.
“A new post of Secretary should be created, which would have a high degree of independence from the Chief Executive in defined areas dealing with governance and transparency, and would also take over some of the responsibilities the current post of Assistant General Secretary.
If this recommendation is accepted by the Executive Council, IFA should seek the services of an outside expert on organisational governance and transparency to provide advice on the detailed implementation of this approach.
The Secretary “would be autonomous from the Chief Executive as regards certain functions in the areas of governance and transparency”.
Financial accounts published
A full set of financial accounts should be placed before the organisation’s AGM each year, Lucey recommends.
The full set of Financial Accounts should be made available on the IFA website following approval, along with infographics setting out the key headline details to help in the understanding of the statements more completely.
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