Thirty IDA staff earned more than €100,000 in 2018

Thirty IDA Ireland employees earned more than €100,000 last year.

That is according to new figures provided by the Minister for Enterprise Heather Humphreys.

In a written Dáil reply to Independent TD Thomas Pringle, Ms Humphreys confirmed that four of the 30 earned more than €150,000 last year.

This included one earning €170,000-€180,000 – the IDA's 2017 annual report shows that chief executive Martin Shanahan earned €171,407 that year.

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The Minister also confirmed that 10 staff earned €130,000-€150,000 with another 16 earning €100,000-€130,000.

In her reply, Ms Humphreys said: “It should be remembered that IDA Ireland’s staff includes highly qualified personnel hired abroad – in highly competitive marketplaces – to secure valuable and job-rich investment for Ireland.

“The enterprise agencies under my remit, including IDA Ireland, are provided with an overall pay ceiling within which they have some flexibility to align staffing resources to both manage operations and meet strategic priorities.

A spokeswoman for the IDA said on Thursday: “IDA Ireland’s team has achieved record results in the past year with the foreign direct investment sector now responsible for over 230,000 jobs in Ireland – its highest-ever level.

“IDA Ireland’s client companies continue to have a hugely positive effect on the local economy, with over eight jobs being created for every 10 jobs in an FDI company.”

Enterprise Ireland

IDA sister enterprise agency Enterprise Ireland had 44 staff earning more than €100,000 in 2017, including three earning more than €150,000.

Sixteen earned between €110,000-€150,000, with 25 earning €100,000-€110,000.

A spokesman for Enterprise Ireland said on Thursday that the 2018 salaries would be published in the agency’s forthcoming annual report.

“In 2018, Enterprise Ireland client companies’ export sales hit a record €23.8 billion, representing a 6 per cent increase on 2017,” he said.

He also stated that 2018 was a record job creation year by Enterprise Ireland-backed companies, with 18,846 new jobs being created.

He said “215,207 people are now employed by Enterprise Ireland-backed companies, which is the highest total employment in the 20-year history of the agency.”

He added that Enterprise Ireland backed-companies “also made a contribution of €27 billion in expenditure in the Irish economy”.