Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 June 2014
10. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason for the delay in the publication of the salaries of CEOs and directors in receipt of grants directly from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24469/14]
View answerThe Deputy will recall that I answered a related Question No 7 from him on 17 April 2014, when I informed him of my belief that transparency is a vital element of good governance in all organisations which receive public funds. At that time, I undertook to raise with the Arts Council the issue of transparency in the organisations which it funds and I am advised that this is being implemented by the Council. With regard to the salaries of CEOs/Directors receiving grants directly from my Department, the majority of these are already a matter of public record. In 2014, my Department will pay grants totalling just under €131 million in respect of the Arts, Culture and Film sector. Organisations in which the salaries of the CEOs/Directors are in the public domain account for 89% of this allocation. I am advised that all of the positions in question were publicly advertised, with an open selection process being used.
Public bodies are required to adhere to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. This Code requires that, in the interests of transparency and good governance, State bodies should publish in their Annual Reports details of fees and expenses paid to each of their directors, as well as the salary of the CEO. While the Code may be burdensome for small not-for-profit organisations, I consider that the principles of good governance and transparency should nonetheless be observed.
For this reason, smaller arts organisations funded directly by my Department are subject to a condition that they comply with good standards of transparency and accountability, which are set down on the website www.governancecode.ie. These standards are specifically tailored to meet the challenges of ensuring proper governance in the not-for-profit sector and are suitable for use by arts organisations, many of which are small. Adherence to these standards requires, inter alia, that the relevant organisations publish the salaries of their CEOs in their annual reports and accounts.
