Executives in the State's largest companies got pay rises of as much as €37,000 this year, but the average salary increase received by Irish managers was 4.7 per cent, according to a survey released yesterday.
The Irish Management Institute (IMI) study of 5,365 executives working for 174 companies established that they received an average increase in their pay and bonuses of 4.7 per cent in the year to April 2003.
The IMI pointed out yesterday that this represented a net gain of 0.4 per cent over inflation, which was 4.3 per cent during the same period.
But the figures for top management in 22 companies with annual turnovers of more than €250 million show that executive pay continued to grow strongly at the highest level in Irish business. The "median" or most representative figure for chief executives in this group shows pay at €231,500 as against €194,600 in 2002.
The median is the salary half-way between the largest and smallest in companies with turnover in excess of €250 million.
The study also includes upper quartiles and lower quartiles. The upper quartile, half way between the median and largest figure, is €386,325, compared with €249,600 last year.
The lower quartile, half way between the median and smallest pay packet is €178,094.
The study shows that chief executives in banking, insurance finance and professional services had the biggest pay packets, with a median of €204,500.
The lowest paid were in computers, with a €123,700 median just less than their peers working in information technology, where the median salary came in at €130,4000. Company chiefs in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sectors were the second-best paid, with a median of €162,00.
Nearly all chief executives in the survey had pension schemes, while 51 per cent of them had company cars.
Just three chief executives were allowed company cars worth less than €40,000, while 14 were allowed cars worth over €70,000. The most popular price range was €50,000 to €60,000.
The companies that responded to the survey indicated they were likely to pay average increases of 4 to 6 per cent for the year to April 2004.
IMI chief executive, Mr Barry Kenny, said the study showed some early signs of recovery.
He pointed out that the net real pay gain against inflation of 0.4 per cent compared with a net loss of 1.1 per cent last year.
