O'Connor to supply board with pay details

THE chief executive of Bord na Mona, Dr Eddie O'Connor, has been given until next week to clarify issues raised by the Price Waterhouse review of his remuneration package.

The board of the State company" met yesterday to consider the Port by the accountants, but adjourned the meeting after four hours.

The board is due to reconvene next Tuesday, by which time Dr O'Connor is expected to have responded to the Price Waterhouse findings. The board is believed to have requested Dr O'Connor to provide further clarification of certain expenditure over the period.

"We have not had Dr O'Connor's final explanation," said chairman Mr Pat Dineen after the meeting. Mr Dineen said that there were some items that needed clarification.

The chairman refused to discuss the report in any detail, but said that there were aspects of the chief executive's expenses that had to be confirmed by Dr O'Connor. However, he said Dr O'Connor's expenses over the last nine years followed the pattern revealed in an earlier report.

This report, which was requested by Mr Dineen when he took over as chairman in September, covered the three years to last March. It showed that Dr O'Connor received £141,000 in expenses over the three years, of which £39,000 was paid without receipts being produced. Dr O'Connor's total package during the period varied from £150,000 to £200,000 a year and was well in excess of Government guidelines.

The second report, which was only finalised this week, covers Dr O'Connor's full nine year term, is understood to detail further substantial expenses claimed by Dr O'Connor in earlier years.

Price Waterhouse had sought a meeting with Dr O'Connor to discuss the new report earlier this week.

However, Dr O'Connor had not been available to discuss the report yesterday, said Mr Dineen.

Once the hoard has heard Dr O'Connor's explanation it will decide what to do, according to the chairman. The board has not considered Dr O'Connor's position at according to Mr Dineen. Mr O'Connor was appointed by the Government and it was up to the Government to decide on any recommendation coming from the board, he explained. However Mr Dineen pointed out that there was no suggestion at the moment that the board would make any recommendation to the Minister for Transport Energy and Communications, Mr Lowry.

Dr O'Connor, who declined to comment after yesterday's meeting has always maintained that all elements of his package were agreed with the previous chairman, Mr Brendan Halligan.

Mr Dineen said yesterday that there was no written evidence of this arrangement. However, "there is evidence to suggest such an arrangement did exist".

Mr Dinnen said he would not know for certain if the agreement existed until he met Mr Halligan, which he planned to do as soon as possible.

Mr Dineen said that Mr Halligan had offered to meet him already but that he felt it was not appropriate to do so until he got the full Price Waterhouse report. Mr Halligan was not available for comment yesterday. Directors leaving the meeting refused to comment. It is understood that they were given a draft of the final report. It will not be finalised until the accountants discuss their findings to Dr O'Connor. The directors did not seek further details at this stage.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Dineen said that the issue had to be resolved quickly to avoid further damage to the company.

The report was delivered late on Tuesday night to Mr Dineen and to the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications. Mr Dineen said it was only at this stage that he learned it was to be a draft rather than a final report.

The Oireachtas Committee on State Sponsored Bodies is also likely to press ahead to seek the appearance before it of Mr Dineen, Dr O'Connor, Mr Halligan and Mr John Loughrey, secretary of the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications before it, to discuss the issues raised in the Price Waterhouse report.