Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The salary is very high for a relatively small company. There are many people running much larger enterprises than this who do not get paid a salary of this scale. For the information of the Deputy, the basic salary is €136,000, plus €12,600 in board fees and a car allowance of €20,000, all of which are contracted and, as a consequence, the chief executive officer is legally entitled to them. The additional payment of €19,877 relates to a payment in lieu of untaken holidays or untaken leave. My Department wrote to the chairperson, whose term has ended, stating that we did not accept this payment of €19,877 and that it should not have been made. When a new chairman is appointed the matter will be taken up with the new chairperson to resolve and the new board when appointed. The chairman designate will appear before the joint committee to discuss these matters. Unfortunately, these matters are a distraction from a much more important issue which is the future of the harbour company. I would like to see the new chairman and board deal with these issues quickly in order that we can concentrate on the much more important matter of the future direction and future success of the harbour company.

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