The numbers employed at State agency Teagasc earning over €100,000 last year increased by 16 to 124.
That is according to the 2024 Teagasc annual report which shows that four members of staff earned between €170,000 and €200,000 with another member of staff earning between €150,000 and €160,000.
A further 25 staff earned between €130,000 and €150,000 with 40 earning between €120,000 to €130,000.
A further 54 earned between €100,000 and €120,000.
The total remuneration for Teagasc Director Professor Frank O’Mara last year increased from €184,000 to €192,000
Teagasc, the Agriculture and Food Development Authority, is the national body providing integrated research, advisory and training services to the agriculture and food industry and rural communities.
Numbers employed by Teagasc during 2024 increased from 1,439 to 1,489 and staff costs last year increased from €146.24m to €154.49m.
Staff costs include €2.8m in allowances and €1.12m in overtime payments.
Pay to key management personnel increased from €788,000 to €827,000.
The financial statements also disclose that Teagasc’s spend on legal costs and settlements concerning legal proceedings declined by 59% from €531,000 to €216,000.
The breakdown shows that €10,000 was spent on legal fees on legal proceedings along with an additional €206,000 on 26 separate settlements.
The accounts also disclose that Teagasc’s spend on consultancy costs increased from €1.56m in 2023 to €2.63m last year.
The main drivers in the increased spend was the spend on architectural and engineering services doubling to €1.44m while the spend on legal services almost doubled from €186,000 to €317,000.
The agency last year recorded a pre-tax surplus before transfers of €2m which was an increase on the pre-tax surplus of €1.66m recorded in 2023.
Teagasc’s total income increased to €241m while its total spend rose by €9.06m to €240m.
The bulk of Teagasc’s income came through a €179m grant from Government. The agency also generated €44.47m in operational income.
Teagasc last year spent €72.9m on procurement and a note attached to the accounts states that in 2024, Teagasc found that of 301 purchase orders for value in excess of €25,000, with total value of €26.7m, the value of non-compliant purchase orders was €191,930.
The note states that “notwithstanding that these procurements were non-compliant Teagasc is satisfied that good value for money was achieved”.
The agency’s spend on client hospitality totalled €46,000 and staff hospitality amounted to €44,000.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
