Rehab Group statement in full

The Rehab Group Board met today and agreed to make a statement regarding the salary of our Chief Executive Ms. Angela Kerins.

The Rehab Group is an organisation which values entrepreneurship and innovation and its mission is to promote equality and to fight disadvantage through world-class services and initiatives. Rehab is an independent group of charities and commercial companies, which provide a wide range of services, including health and social care services, training and education and employment and pre-employment services, as well as a number of businesses operating in the areas of retail, manufacturing, logistics and recycling.

The Rehab Group is committed to achieving growth, sustainability and value for money in partnership with its customers. The people who benefit from our services include children and adults with disabilities, people with autism, people with mental health difficulties and other disadvantaged groups such as early school leavers and ex-offenders. The Group also actively campaigns for positive changes in areas of policy and law relevant to the lives of the people who use its services, in the countries in which it operates, and on a global scale through the United Nations and other international bodies.

The Rehab Group Chairman Mr. Brian Kerr said: “The Rehab Group enjoys enormous and greatly valued trust from the people who use our services and their families, our customers and the general public. We have always answered that trust by providing high quality, value for money services that help our clients to achieve their potential. We are conscious that the Irish Government and public bodies are very important stakeholders of the Rehab Group. We share a common desire to make quality and relevant services available to people who need them and we are conscious of recent calls for the salary of the Chief Executive to be published again.”

“The Board was reluctant to publish these details previously for three main reasons. Firstly Rehab continuously competes for business at home and abroad with a range of private companies which do not have to disclose such information. Secondly, we wanted to receive up to date advice from our legal and remuneration advisors and thirdly we are also acutely conscious of our duty to all of our employees under privacy law and the Data Protection Acts 1998 and 2003. Our Chief Executive Ms. Kerins has waived her rights to confidentiality and encouraged the publication of this information.”

“The Board is very proud of the track record of the Rehab Group over its 65 year history. We have grown from employing 600 people in Ireland 20 years ago to employing more than 2,300 people in Ireland today, with almost 11,000 people and their families benefiting from our services in Ireland. We now are a diverse and international organisation operating in Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Poland and the Middle East, with over 3,500 staff overall and a turnover of €183 million.”

“State monies are paid to subsidiaries of the Rehab Group for the delivery of specified services, under agreed contracts. The Rehab Group and its employees returned almost €21million to the Irish state in PAYE, PRSI and Universal Social Charge (USC) in 2013.”

“Policy decisions relating to pay of senior management are recommended by the Board’s Remuneration Committee and decided on by the Rehab Group Board. The Board, for well over a decade, has followed best practice whereby the Remuneration Committee seeks the advice of independent experts to inform its decisions.”

Since 2004 the Remuneration Committee has regularly sought expert independent advice from various remuneration organisations in this field, such as the Hay Group and Towers Watson, which have a strong track record of advising organisations in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, in Ireland and internationally. On behalf of the Remuneration Committee, they produce independent market data that is then considered by the Remuneration Committee and by the Board. In making its decisions, the Remuneration Committee and Board have also been sensitive at all times to pay policy and developments in the public and private sectors and in the wider Rehab Group”.

Following the recent review by Towers Watson, the Board confirms the following:

The salary for the post of Chief Executive of the Rehab Group is €240,000 per annum.

The CEO has voluntarily waived all bonus entitlements for the last four years.

The CEO has a defined contribution pension scheme. (The employer contribution to this scheme is 6% of salary.)

The CEO, like all members of the Rehab Group Board, does not receive directors’ fees for the various subsidiary boards on which she sits.

The CEO has the use of a company car for which she pays “benefit in kind” tax.

Rehab Group does not fund private health insurance for any staff members.

The rate of pay for the Rehab Group Chief Executive is significantly below the market median.

As a private organisation Rehab Group staff have never been members of a public service pension scheme, nor enjoy similar benefits. The assets of Rehab Group pension schemes are held in independent trustee administered funds and the Rehab Group is subject to the Pensions Acts and regulated by the Pensions Regulator.

Brian Kerr said: “We are satisfied that this is competitive and fair remuneration for the person leading the Rehab Group. In order to achieve our growth strategy and expand services to people who need them, a remuneration policy to attract and retain qualified and talented employees is vital, and the CEO role is no exception.”

The Board has confirmed that, in compliance with Accounting Standard FRS102 which comes into force in 2015, the total remuneration of senior management will be published in the Rehab Group accounts from 2015 onwards, and the Rehab Group will comply with any other relevant regulatory or legal obligation which emerges.

“The Rehab Group acknowledges the very significant work done by all in the charity sector. We welcome the Government’s announcement that the charity regulator will be appointed shortly. We call on the government to ensure that the office of the charity regulator will be properly and adequately resourced, in order to fulfil its mission and contribute to the development and promotion of the charity sector in Ireland.”

Mr. Kerr concluded: “Finally, and importantly, the Rehab Group, and its clients, their families and our dedicated and loyal staff have been deeply affected by the recent comments about the Group. We have voiced our concern about the fact that much of this clearly relates to our pursuit of justice and fair play for our lottery business. All we have sought is a level playing pitch and fair competition. We have been successfully running lotteries as a business for over fifty years in order to help support and develop our services.”

“Rehab has to try and compete with a National Lottery which has no limits on its top prizes, while we have to limit our entire prize fund to €20,000 per week, due to a prize cap imposed on us by legislation. The government makes the rules, owns the National Lottery and has recently agreed to sell it for some €400 million. We now have been forced to take the unprecedented step of court action to try and get fair play for charity lotteries.”

“Many of the recent comments relate to the government’s Charity Lottery Compensation Fund. This fund was the government’s idea in 1997 to compensate the charity lotteries for the unfair lottery cap on charity lottery prizes. They have now decided to abolish this scheme. The government can’t have it both ways. If they abolish the compensation fund they must abolish the cap on the prize fund of charity lotteries to allow charity lotteries to compete fairly with the government’s own lottery.”

“The Board of the Rehab Group now calls on the government to review its policy and abolish the cap on charity lotteries in the Gambling Control Bill currently going through the Oireachtas.”