EXECUTIVE directors of CRH, the building materials group, received an average remuneration of £401,239 in 1995, 25 per cent higher than the average in 1994.

This included a basic salary of £224,114, up 8 per cent, and performance-related incentives of £177,125, up 56 per cent, according to the group's annual report released yesterday.

The executive directors are: Mr Don Godson, chief executive; Mr Harry Sheridan, finance director; Mr Liam O'Mahony, chief executive of Oldcastle, the US subsidiary; and Mr Brian Hill, managing director of CRH mainland Europe.

CRH provides far greater disclosure on directors' remuneration than in previous years.

Executive directors receive an annual incentive of up to 35 per cent of basic salary. Under this plan, they got an average of £77,429, up from £65.870. on pre-tax profit of £160 million, up from £116 million.

Under the long-term incentive, the executive directors can receive a payment of up to 25 per cent for achieving specific targets. In addition, the chief executive has a long-term incentive plan tied to the achievement of exceptional growth. The average payment under this plan went up from £47,724 to £99,697.

On top of the basic pay and incentive payments, the executive directors collectively had a jump in "other remuneration" from a total of £32,942 to £367,613. These, CRH said, were primarily travel and housing allowances for overseas executive directors. The exceptional jump in 1995 relates to international transfers.

The non-executive directors received an average fee and remuneration of £42,488. This represented a 12 per cent increase on the previous year.