The IFA expects to have a replacement for Pat Smith by October. Interviews are scheduled for mid-September.

The pay for the new director general will be reported annually, as will that of president Joe Healy and deputy president Richard Kennedy, on foot of recommendations from the implementation committee, headed by Teddy Cashman.

The three senior members of the organisation are on the first of a number of tiers for the purpose of pay transparency and governance.

The combined pay of the next three most senior managerial staff positions, those of director of organisation, financial controller and the new position of company secretary, will be published.

The next tier is the executive council, which is made up of 50-odd farmer volunteers. Their pay is effectively the allowance they receive for labour replacement on the days they leave their farms and will be published cumulatively.

A further tier will comprise remaining executive staff members. Again, a cumulative figure for these 15 people will be made public.

The findings of the committee were well received by the IFA’s executive council on Tuesday, and will now be discussed at county executives around the country. Staff were briefed the previous day, in what was in no sense a “crisis meeting”.

There is concern over the levies issue, and revenue levels, but there has been no discussion of redundancies. The sense is that the IFA is meeting the demands of members on governance.

“We’re going way beyond minimum requirements, and are doing the maximum allowed under Irish employment law,” one council member said.

In terms of pay scale, an independent analysis has been done of staff members at all levels, finding that pay levels were “below the average” when benchmarked against public and private sector equivalents.