Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 303: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the salary of each chief executive of agencies under the aegis of his Department on 1 August 2008 and 1 September 2008 in tabular form; if a voluntary pay cut was taken by each CEO; if so, the date of same; the salary of the CEO at that date; the full benefits package now applying to each such person including pension contributions and amount of bonus, if any; if same was awarded, the way in which it was benchmarked; the cost of a company car and any other benefit in kind; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13630/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The salaries of the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), or equivalents, of the agencies under the aegis of my Department are as set out in Table 1 below. The details of the current approved benefits packages of these CEOs, or equivalents, are as set out in Table 2 below.

In addition, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment are sponsor Departments for Tourism Ireland. The remuneration and other conditions and terms of service of the CEO of Tourism Ireland are determined by the Board of the Company, with the approval of the North-South Ministerial Council and the respective Finance Ministers.

The decision as to whether to take a voluntary pay cut is a matter solely for each CEO, or equivalent. In respect of the agencies under the aegis of my Department whose remuneration includes bonuses, decisions to award payments in any instance are not made by me as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport but, rather, by the boards of the agencies concerned, subject to the terms and criteria contained in the associated remuneration schemes agreed with the CEOs, or equivalents. Accordingly, the bases of any such awards are matters for the boards of the agencies concerned. Furthermore, the payment of bonuses other than in the case of commercial State bodies, which in the case of this Department were Bord na gCon and Horse Racing Ireland, until recently transferred to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, is suspended pursuant to the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009, and the relevant agencies under the aegis of my Department have been requested to implement these provisions.

1 The salary of the Director of the Crawford Art Gallery Cork is paid by the Vocational Education Committee but is recouped from my Department.

1It is a condition of the Director's contract that he resides at Kilmainham in accommodation provided by the Office of Public Works, but rent is paid in respect of this accommodation.

2 Although the CEO of Fáilte Ireland is entitled to avail of a company car, the current CEO does not exercise this option.