LARGE bonuses and other perks for senior executives send "a bad signal" to ordinary employees who are being asked for wage restraint, Mr Richard Bruton said. The Minister for Enterprise and Employment told the annual conference of the Institute of Personnel and Development that such awards could "destabilise" social partnership.
Social partnership was one of the key foundations to the economic miracle of the past decade, but some recent high profile awards to executives were "inimical to the fostering of competitive partnership arrangements at the level of the enterprise," he said.
In a clear reference to companies including Ryanair, the Irish Permanent and Irish Life, Mr Bruton said he was concerned at the "high salary increases, bonuses or other perks paid to senior executives and management of companies that alter their structure or float on stock markets."
In national agreements over the past 10 years, workers have shown great restraint in the level of headline pay increases they have accepted. The economy overall has clearly benefited from this and the consensus approach adopted."
Pay restraint had allowed companies to plough money back into their operations.