Members of the IFA national council including county executive chairs, regional chairs and commodity chairs, have decided to move on from the pay increase concerns expressed by some of the association’s members in recent weeks.
Motions seeking to review or reverse the pay increases were put forward for discussion at the council’s meeting in Portlaoise last week, with some county chairs reporting that there was “very little” opposition and one stating that debate on the matter was a “damp squib”.
IFA national treasurer Martin Stapleton outlined the process taken by the IFA’s renumeration committee which led it to propose salary increases for the IFA president, deputy president and director general.
However, rumblings over pay continue in some quarters.
Following a meeting of the Carlow executive on Monday night, at which Stapleton made a presentation, former deputy president Derek Deane raised concern that the pay increases for the director general had not been connected to performance.
“The dispute here isn’t about the pay increases, it’s about performance, or the lack of it. There has been disquiet on the pay and what’s been the answer? – to drive it on,” Deane said.
Stapleton confirmed that the remuneration committee was not tasked with evaluating the performance of individuals, but with appropriate pay levels for senior roles.
Carlow IFA chair John Nolan said that while “people voiced their concerns, they know themselves that nothing can be done”.
Calls were made at the Carlow meeting for an IFA South Leinster regional meeting to discuss issues including the association’s CAP strategy. Nolan said that there are “a lot of issues” and Deane, who supported this ask, said: “It’s the leadership who should be looking for the regional meeting, not us.”
