The CEO of Uisce Éireann Niall Gleeson will receive an overall pay package this year of €391,953 – an overall rise of €118,000 on his pay package for 2025.
The overall package, including pension contributions, is revealed in the 2025 annual report for the State-owned utility Uisce Éireann, which shows that last year bonus payments for staff increased by 36.5% to €17.84m.
The report shows that last year, Mr Gleeson received a pay package of €274,000 and the increase to €391,953 represents a 43% overall increase.
Mr Gleeson’s pay increase received Ministerial approval on December 18, 2025 and a note states an €4,523 increase in his 2025 salary was not paid out until January 2026 following Uisce Eireann approval.
The 2025 annual report shows that the €17.84m to staff in performance related pay was a €4.76m increase on the performance related payouts of €13.03m for 2024.
The report discloses that Uisce Éireann made performance related payments to 3,239 employees for 2025 and this followed 2,244 staff receiving bonus payments for 2024.
The payments were approved by the Board of Uisce Éireann in January 2026 and the average bonus payment was €5,511, which was down €319 on the average bonus payment of €5,830 for the prior year.
The annual report states that the Uisce Éireann “pay model which is market based and performance related, comprises two elements, namely base pay and a performance related award”.
“Performance is assessed against individual objectives and corporate objectives through a balanced scorecard process,” the report adds.
No bonus payment was made to Uisce Éireann CEO Niall Gleeson and this is a result of a Government direction in 2011.
The report also reveals that the numbers earning over €100,000 last year totalled 527 which was an increase of 106 or 25% on the 421 in that earning bracket in 2024.
The detailed figures show that four staff members earned between €250,000 and €275,000; seven between €225,000 and €250,000 and nine between €200,000 and €225,000.
A further 31 earned between €175,000 and €200,000 while 47 earned between €150,000 and €175,000.
A total of 99 staff earned between €125,000 and €150,000 while 330 staff earned between €100,000 and €125,000.
Overall staff short term costs surged by €69.5m from €166.9m to €236.45m as numbers employed increased by 905 or 43% from 2,108 to 3,013.
The 2025 payment to Mr Niall Gleeson of €274,000 is made up of €225,000 in basic salary, €27,000 in pension contributions and €22,000 in “other short term” employee costs.
Commenting on Mr Gleeson’s 2026 pay increase earlier this year, Uisce Eireann said pay in the semi-state sector has been “heavily constrained since 2011” and had “fallen below market levels”.
It said Mr Gleeson’s pay “reflects the scale and complexity of Uisce Éireann’s role in delivering critical national water and wastewater services.”
It added that it “recognises the critical leadership role required to meet the challenges of delivering these essential services and the accountability associated with a €12.2bn, five-year capital infrastructure programme supporting improved performance, housing and growth”.
Last year, pre-tax profits at Uisce Éireann increased by 23% to €396.2m. Revenues last year increased by 14% from €1.6 billion to €1.83 billion.
The utility’s revenues were made up of €1.24 billion in Government subvention payments for domestic water billing, non domestic revenues of €332.78m while new connection revenues increased by 34% to €262m.
The utility delivered Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation of €649m compared to €550m in 2024.
Chief Financial Officer Chris McCarthy said that Uisce Éireann “delivered a strong financial performance during 2025”.
“The surplus/profit generated by Uisce Éireann, together with necessary Government support in the form of capital contributions of €801m, was invested to fund critical infrastructure projects and enabled the successful delivery of a €1,431m capital investment programme in 2025,” Mr McCarthy said.
“This allowed us to improve the quality of our water supply, improve our compliance with standards and increase capacity for housing and development to support economic growth,” he said.
The utility’s spend on hospitality for staff and clients last year decreased by 19% from €211,000 to €171,000.
The spend was made up of €159,000 on staff hospitality and €12,000 on client hospitality.
The report discloses that Uisce Eireann last year paid out €5.8m in legal costs and comprised settlements of €1.8m, €3.65m in legal fees and €379,000 in conciliation and arbitration payments.
The payouts last year concerned 54 legal cases.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
