This article is from page 4 of the 2006-10-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE Clare County Manager, Alec Fleming yesterday declined to provide details of bonus payments made to himself and the directors of services this year.
At an adjourned council meeting last January, Mr Fleming confirmed to councillors that a fund of €72,000 had been set aside for the bonus payments for himself and his six Directors of Service in 2006.
Mr Fleming sets the objectives for the directors of service. These are subject to the approval of an external adjudicating panel. The panel decides what percentage, if any of the set-aside fund the directors are entitled to.
Asked by The Clare People if payments had been made under the scheme this year, Mr Fleming replied: “Payments in 2006 under the scheme – if any – are determined in the first half of the year in respect of 2005. It is not appropriate to give information regarding payments under this particular scheme.”
Salaries to Directors of Service for Planning, Roads, Housing etc range from €75,523 to €89,255, while Mr Fleming receives a salary of €109,000.
Last year, Mr Fleming and his five directors of service enjoyed expenses of €46,767.
“There should be no reluctance on the part of the manager to release details of the payments,” said Councillor Tom Prendeville (FF).
“The manager and the directors should not fear any public backlash over the payments if they can justify the payments.”
He added: “The public has a right to know about the details of these payments and I will be placing a motion for the council’s November meeting for details of these payments to be made public.”
Mr Fleming pointed out: “It is not the case that I approve the payments but that the independent adjudicating panel set up under the scheme approve payments both for myself and the Directors of Service.
“In the case of Directors of Services I agree the objectives subject to approval of the adjudicating panel and also make appropriate recommendations at the end of the period in question. This scheme is similar to that in the civil service and other public sector organisations where it has been determined that the pay scale for senior public servants consists of a basic pay plus a performance element. There is a process similar to benchmarking used to determine the pay scales involved and obviously makes comparisons both within the public sector and also outside.”