ESB report shines a light on its pay and perks

Brighter Possibilities is the chirpy title of ESB's annual report for 2014, which emerged on Wednesday. The report's fine print contained several nuggets about pay and perks at the State-owned electricity company.

Chief executive Pat O'Doherty's total pay and pensions package of €359,000 was the same as 2013. Good money, but hardly outlandish when you consider what other top Irish executives get paid. If running a company is a hands- on job, then O'Doherty is worth just one of the fingers of CRH's Albert Manifold, who was paid €3.59 million last year.

The Government is seeking a new chairman for ESB, after Lochlann Quinn retired in January. He was paid a handy €75,075 for the part-time gig, so there should be no shortage of applicants.

The rest of ESB’s directors each received fees of €15,750 for its 13 board meetings and associated work. All except corporate governance consultant Noreen O’Kelly, that is, who waived her fees, as she has done for several years.

The board, including O’Doherty in his full-time executive role, racked up a reasonable €90,000 between them in expenses and entertainment, or an average of €625 each per month.

The average payroll cost for each of ESB’s 7,149 staff was €74,000, with another €7,600 each in pension contributions. Staff also accrued a travel, subsistence and outstanding holiday pay bill of €28.6 million, or €4,000 each.

Workers have also put in a claim for a 3.5 per cent annual pay rise for three years, backdated to 2014.

Brighter possibilities all round.