Michael Fitzmaurice TD has called for the salaries of top executives at Ornua, formerly known as the Irish Dairy Board, to be reviewed immediately, following the news that nine executives shared more than €9 million in pay, bonuses and pension contributions over the last two years.
The Roscommon-Galway Independent TD said that “Dairy farmers who are struggling to make ends meet are bewildered and outraged,and rightly so too, by news of the huge pay packages being enjoyed by the top nine executives at Ornua and it is a completely unacceptable and unjustified situation.”
“It is also significant that the figures did not specify what each director was paid, which is unacceptable to tens of thousands of farmers who contribute to the running of Ornua. It must also be remembered that thousands of farmers invested heavily in their dairy operations hoping that the scrapping of the milk quota would boost demand but instead prices have hit the floor and many are struggling to keep their business afloat. In this context salaries to the top executives of over half a million Euro per year are very hard to take for hard pressed farmers in the industry and they must be reviewed immediately” he concluded.