Concern has record year with income over €90m

Ireland's largest overseas development agency, Concern, has reported a record year for donations and Government grants in 2004, with income exceeding €90 million.

Last year, the Irish and British public donated €43.79 million to the agency, an increase of almost €2 million on the previous year.

Almost half of this was accounted for by the Asian tsunami appeal, for which a record €19 million was raised. Another €4 million was raised in an appeal for the Darfur region of Sudan.

Grants from governments and institutional donors were also up, to €35.37 million, according to the agency's annual accounts for last year. The largest single donor was the Irish Government, which provided grants of €18.6 million.

Concern says it spends just 1 per cent of income on management and administration; however, this figure does not include salaries paid overseas. The agency spent almost €12 million on fundraising and promotion.This figure included €4.3 million spent on "donor recruitment", usually by onstreet approaches seeking direct-debit donations.

Wage costs and bonuses paid to such onstreet collectors amounted to almost €2 million, three times the salaries paid to headquarters staff.

The agency also spent €3.8 million refurbishing its headquarters on Camden Street in Dublin.

Concern employs 209 staff in Ireland and the UK, up from 175 the previous year. One employee, presumably chief executive Tom Arnold, is recorded as earning between €110,000 and €130,000, and another employee between €90,000 and €110,000.

It operates programmes in 29 developing countries, over half of them in Africa. Its health programmes alone reached 3.5 million people.

Launching the report, Mr Arnold called on the Government to "lead by example" in providing credible leadership for the world's poorest. This would not be possible unless Ireland makes a new commitment to reaching the UN target on aid spending of 0.7 per cent of GNP, he said.