Irish Water glass half-full for Bord Gáis boss McNicholas

Michael McNicholas delivered his first full set of results as chief executive of Bord Gáis (soon to be known as Eriva) this week.

McNicholas, a genial sort, is a hardy veteran of both of the private sector with NTR and the public sector with ESB International. He will need all of his diplomatic skills to get Irish Water (owned by Eriva) off the ground, judging by some of the cast of characters trying to derail it.

Pay restraint fever, which first swept across Ireland in 2009, is dissipating these days with the unions calling for rises to boost demand. It is interesting, then, to see that Siptu’s Joe O’Flynn is the only member of the Bord Gáis board still waiving his €15,750 annual fee.

Other private sector luminaries on the board, such as former Bank of Ireland governor Laurence Crowley and the group's chairman, Rose Hynes, are still picking up their full fees. The annual report also reveals, however, that the entire nine-strong board clocked up expenses last year of €7,647, which works out at just €70 per person, per month.

The thrift of it all. It'd make you wistful for the Celtic Tiger glory days of the semi-State sector