Executives working at Dublin's International Financial Services Centre earn much higher remuneration packages than those working in other areas within the financial services industry, according to research by accountants Ernst & Young.

Its survey shows that IFSC companies are continuing to provide highly attractive performance related incentives for staff which have boosted pay levels in that sector. On average, the figures show that a chief executive working for an IFSC company earns a basic salary of around £81,500 compared to £91,200 for a chief executive in another financial services group. In addition, however, an IFSC chief executive would typically earn up to another 70 per cent of his basic salary as a bonus compared with annual bonuses of around 20 per cent for chief executives in non IFSC companies.

At the higher end of the salary scale, however, the survey claims there are opportunities for chief executives across all companies in the financial services industry to earn total remuneration packages worth around £130,000.

In most cases, Ernst & Young says salaries within the IFSC sector are rising at a much higher rate than inflation, increasing by up to 10.5 per cent annually in some cases. Of the 83 companies surveyed, it found that 29 per cent of executives had company cars in addition to pension schemes and preferential mortgage and personal loan rates.