Former IFA boss received pay packet of €535,000 in 2013

The former head of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) Pat Smith received a salary of €535,000 in 2013, the organisation has revealed.

Mr Smith resigned on Thursday as a result of the controversy over his remuneration, which has been the source of speculation for several weeks.

At an emergency meeting of the IFA's executive council in Portlaoise, IFA president Eddie Downey, for the first time, released details of Mr Smith's pay.

Mr Smith, who held the post of IFA general secretary since 2009, earned a total pay package of €445,000 last year, comprising a basic pay of €295,000 and a pension contribution of €150,000.

In 2013, his remuneration was even higher, involving basic pay of €295,000, a €150,000 pension contribution, a €60,000 bonus and a €30,000 director’s fee for his role in the group’s telecommunications arm, IFA telecoms. A company car was included for both years.

Mr Downey said Mr Smith’s pay package was “not sustainable and unacceptable”. “Accordingly, we have dealt with it. Going forward, the remuneration package of the IFA general secretary will be disclosed and will be a matter of public record in the annual accounts,” he said.

The IFA had been in the eye of a storm over its refusal to disclose details of Mr Smith’s pay. The decision to reveal the pay of its highest-ranking official represents a watershed moment for the group. However, details of Mr Smith’s exit package have still not been disclosed.

Mr Downey said other executive salaries within the organisation were comparable with those in the Government departments and State agencies, the group interfaces with.

The IFA’s executive council has also ratified Bryan Barry as acting general secretary and chief executive in wake of Mr Smith’s departure.

Speaking in Cork, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said he had enjoyed a "very good working relationship" with Mr Smith

“But, to be honest, I don’t know what Pat Smith was paid. That is an issue for the IFA to resolve and I would expect that they will provide the appropriate transparency around all of that,” he said.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: “I don’t have direct information about that (Pat Smith’s salary) but clearly farmers will want to know what those who work for them are paid.”

The controversy surrounding pay at the farmers’ lobby group stretches back to the surprise departure of its former chief economist Con Lucey last year. Mr Lucey has raised serious concerns about the financial accountability of the group and its remuneration policy in a series of letters to Mr Smith prior to his decision to resign.