Justine McCarthy – Sunday Times 27th March 2011
The annual salary, bonus and expenses totalling more the €400,000 a year reportedly being paid to Angela Kerins, the chief executive of the Rehab Group, have been described as “exorbitant” by a leading disability campaigner.
“It’s something that has to be questioned, especially in light of the economic situation, when people with disability have had cuts in their €186.00 allowance,” said Frieda Finlay, chairwoman of Inclusion Ireland, which represents the interests of those with intellectual disabilities.
The Phoenix reported last week that Kerins, who also chairs the National Disabilities Authority (NDA), a state disability agency; received a salary “well over” €300.000 plus a bonus of €70.000 from Rehab. It calculated that, with pension entitlements, car benefits and expenses, Kerins annual salary was worth up to €500,000.
Last week, Michael Parker, a spokesman for Kerins, said he was not free to divulge details of her remuneration because Rehab was a private, not-for-profit organisation.
Rehab provides training and employment for people with disabilities in Ireland, Britain, the Netherlands and Poland. Two years ago, the Health Service Executive provided €54m of its €202m income.
“I think all agencies should have their salaries opened up for scrutiny,” said Finlay. “I’m also concerned that there’s a potential conflict of interest as [Kerins] is head of the NDA.”
When asked about Complete Eco Solutions (CES), which supplies Rehab with coffin components and lists Kerin’s husband, Sean Kerins and her brother, Joseph Mc Carthy as directors, Parker said: “Complete Eco Solutions has nothing to do with Rehab other than to help them with the supply of wood from China.
“Her [Angela’s] brother has been based in China for about 20 years. They went to him for help with sourcing materials. Her husband is no longer a director.”
CES supplies wooden panels for coffins which are assembled by Rehab employees in Kilkenny. Frank Flannery, Rehab’s former chief executive and Fine Gael’s deputy director of elections, is a director.
Rehab hosts the People of the Year awards ceremony at Citywest hotel in Dublin where Kerins stays in the presidential suite each year.
“The hotel gives five or six rooms on a complimentary basis, including the presidential suite. It is used by other people as well,” said Parker.
Kerins is co-chair with Philip Lynch, chief executive of One51, of the Ireland First group of 17 businesses and political figures who have written A Blueprint for Change.
They plan to discuss the policy document for Ireland’s economic recovery with the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste.
Now I am really worried, I see that on another service there is a reference to other directors of Rehab from a person called lilysav. I attach a link to this here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056220862&page=10
They also provide a link to the Rehab accounts at:
http://www.rehab.ie/search.aspx?q=En…unts&x=31&y=18
and say it doesn’t provide any info – SEARCH RESULTS
Keyword: “En…unts”.
No results returned for annual accounts, annual or accounts.
MM
Hi: I heard that yesterday morning, the Joe Duffy Programme was going to do an item on The Rehab salary. The show did not appear to cover the item.
I assume that as members of the “4th estate”, the media has not been knobbled!
Now I have just herd that Angela Kerins is a member of the RTE authority, should I be concerned?
@Andrew: Indeed, however my concern is aimed at the gap in certain organisations that have a remit that would include equality of opportunity amongst other social goals.
By the gap I mean the ration of payment between the top and bottom ranked people with regard to salaries and conditions. So if you have a situation of the top person having a total benefit of 500,000 and the bottom person with 9,672 then the ratio is 51.7 to 1.
More like you have Toyota and they have a fleet of Rolls Royces.
The potential gap in benefits for any organisation that claims to be reducing the inequity – directly or indirectly – in society, I feel may be one good measure to examine publicly funded agencies. If this gap were present then it would potentially provide an illustration on how committed to this a specific agency was, in fact.
Assuming the figures given are accurate then this would mean that there is a potential for 1 euro in every 50 or so euros, or nearly 2% of the government provided budget going to employ a CEO.
Compared to the incomes of bankers in the recent past, this ration, I believe would be seen by the public as excessive.
I would suggest that a better and more community centric approach for organisations of this type and with this overriding agenda might be to adopt what I understand as the Mondragon
model.
Part of this model, as I understand this, is that there is a fixed ratio between the highest and lowest paid employee (e.g. say 6-1 ). This then can be a very pragmatic incentive to all in the organisation to improve their work input and so outputs.
Imagine your boss, or indeed all bosses, had a motivation to improve your salary as they would benefit too!
:-)
MM
@Martin. I remember attending a Community Development meeting in the mid-90s and one of the attendees [actually a person well-known locally for his ‘attachment’ to the Poverty Industry] opined that the new measurement for deprivation is: if you drive a Toyota and your neighbour drives a 4WD vehicle then you’re the one in poverty!
Many years ago I was giving a lecture and I said “Disability is an industry giving good and secure employment to many people”. My audience was largely people working in the field of disability. Some people approached me after the lecture and told me I shouldn’t have said that “there was no need for it”. Bloody right there was and bloody right it is an industry – steady employment, good conditions and the pay isn’t the worst either. “I know, I was that soldier”
Well, you know, it seems to me that cripples are, as usual, being selfish. After all, every cloud has a silver lining, and while you might moan about being stuck in a wheelchair, at least one charity boss has a decent set of wheels as a result. What’s with the begrudgery? Be glad Angela has a nice car and a decent wage. And stick to your knitting.
Film stars and some others are paid to give the partys some life.Paris hilton is pais 150’000 dollers per party. in an evening working in charity buisness. and it all comes out of the collective
this money is from all different countrys . mostly the working classes. its absurd. thay lose thier sence of reality when thay handle too much money .and the needs come after themselves.this karen lives in a small country and gets paid like a hieress
Hi Paddy:
No surprise there.
I once heard Rehab described as Ireland best multi national with all the appropriate political connections across the political divide.
I think there have been revelations or at least suggestions for questions about their management costs before in the media, but I do not think they were followed through.
I wonder why?
I can remember having cause to visit Rehab some years back and was quite embarrassed at having to park my park my small family but nearly new runabout beside a selection of cars including, from memory, Jaguars, Volvos and Lexi ( Is that the plural for Lexus?)
Being a bit of a car nut, someone that Jeremy Clarkson would describe as a “petrol head” I did notice that all the cars in proximity to mine were far from basic models and sported many if not all of the top specification’s that one could acquire, as extras, to even revered high end brands.
Obviously at a not inconsiderable additional sum on top.
I also remember remarking to the person that I was meeting at the time and strangely I understand from the information given to me some time later at their next round of car acquisition, it appears that my remark may have ( hopefully) hit on some sensibility as I was informed that staff entitled to this benefit were told to limit their car acquisition to mid range Toyota’s.
Though I understand that the versions of the particular model they were to be limited to at that time (over 10 years ago still exceeded 63,000.)
For information my family car, which I still have after this time cost under 15,000.
I obviously should have made a better – or at least – a more luctrative career decision.
I must inform the Careers guidance people that they can now forget banking as there is a potentially equally rewarding and possibly more secure career choice due to the fact, as you know, the poor are always with us.
MM