There’s much online outrage this week as social media users react to the fact that staff at the much hated state utility Irish Water were paid bonuses despite the company being out of commission for almost a year.
According to the Irish Times, staff at the suspended utility received an average bonus of €5,000 last month as part of a pay restoration settlement outlined by the Workplace Relations Commission in 2015.
The paper also states that management at the company also received top level health insurance premiums for themselves and their families that cost over €5,000 a year per policy.
It is believed the bonuses which will cost the Irish taxpayer €3.2m in total were shelled out as part of pre agreement with the utilities parent company Ervia, who issued the bonuses as part of a performance-related pay system back in 2013.
Although the massive outlay was delayed for a number of years after there was public outcry over the payments which prevented them from being played.
However it was agreed last month that the outstanding payments should be made after a Workplace Relations Commission recommendation, speaking about the payments and Irish Water spokeswoman said: “A 2015 Workplace Relations Commission recommendation said that the Ervia pay model should be restored in full in Irish Water in 2017, meaning all staff are eligible to be considered for nonpensionable performance-related awards this year.”.
The spokeswoman further explained that the outstanding payments were taxable and nonpensionable, and were paid to all 675 Irish Water employees in March for work carried out during 2016. She also revealed that the outstanding payments were “directly linked to rigorously assessed performance against pre-agreed individual, team and company targets.”
What’s your thoughts on Irish Water staff being paid a massive bonus of €5,000?