Almost 50 Enterprise Ireland staff earn over €100,000

CEO Julie Sinnamon is one of two people on €150,000-€200,000

Gordon Deegan

The number of high fliers earning over €100,000 at Enterprise Ireland (EI) last year almost doubled to 49 - thanks to pay restoration from the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

That is according to new figures provided by Enterprise Ireland in response to a Freedom of Information request.

Two employees, including CEO Julia Sinnamon, earn between €150,000 and €200,000.

The figures show that 33 permanent employees now earn between €100,000 and €150,000.

The EI FOI unit explained: "In 2017 the salaries of 18 existing staff increased and exceeded €100,000 as a result of approved pay restoration in line with the Public Services Stability Agreement 2013-2018 - the Lansdowne Road Agreement."

The agreement for pay restoration will mean an increase in workers across State agencies earning over €100,000.

The unit said that 14 overseas, locally hired contract staff earned salaries equivalent to between €100,000 and €150,000 at the end of December 2017.

This number is compared to 10 in 2016.

The unit said the staff on salaries between €100,000 and €150,000 are based in the following countries: Ireland, the UK, Belgium, United States, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Japan, Hong Kong and China.

Last year, EI helped to create 19,332 jobs with 65pc of client employment outside Dubin.

The agency's net jobs created totalled 10,309 with 209,338 jobs in EI-supported countries at the end of the year.

The bill for the operation of EI's 32-strong global network of offices totalled €22.9m in 2016 and this was made up of capital and operating costs.

EI's office in London in 2016 - with Brexit looming - was the costliest to operate, at €2.7m.

The costs for the New York City EI office were the second highest at €2.64m where 10 personnel are employed. In 2016, there four EI offices each cost in excess of €1m to operate.

They were: Shanghai (€1.4m); Dusseldorf (€1.3m); Dubai (€1.3m); and Mountain View in California at €1.1m.

In total, EI employed 147 staff overseas in 2016 and the largest number is located in London at 14.

Along with the €1.3m spend in the Dubai office in 2016,  where seven are employed, EI spend an additional €482,123 on its Riyadh office in Saudi Arabia where three are employed.

The operation of the IDA's overseas network in 2016 cost €15.9m.