Probably not the best time for this news to surface.
It’s emerged that 675 staff at Irish Water each received a bonus payment last month of almost €4,800 on average, or €3.2m in total.
The details of the payments were obtained by the Sunday Independent and the company released a statement to RTE this morning saying, “No performance-related awards were paid in Irish Water in 2014, 2015 or 2016.”
Following a public backlash in 2014, bonuses were suspended at the utility, but it seems they’re well and truly back.
Details of health insurance for spouses, car allowances, and even fitness instructors are among the perks afforded to Irish Water employees.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are still at loggerheads over the issue, and somehow we doubt these bonus revelations will do anything to ease the tension.
