Law Society defends executive and president pay

The director general of the Law Society of Ireland has defended the salaries of its top executives and president after they were called into question by The Irish Times.

The paper reported that the Society’s chiefs shared €2.5 million in remuneration in 2015-16.

Ex-president Kevin O’Higgins received a subvention of €110,000 for his year in office, while the average salary for seven directors and 11 heads of department was €110,000 (or €139,000 including pensions and PRSI).

Ken Murphy, the Society’s director general, told The Irish Times: “This subvention, approved many years ago at an annual general meeting of members, is well justified in view of the enormous time a president devotes to Law Society duties during his/her term in office.”

He added: “Three years ago, Towers Watson conducted an objective remuneration review of executive pay in the Law Society.

“That independent expert report concluded that executive pay in the society is in line with market comparators and that the governance structures of the society are working well to manage pay levels.”

Other figures show that the Law Society recorded a modest operating loss of €36,495 in 2015, down from its surplus of €1.2 million in 2014.