Two Cabinet ministers today called on Rehab chief executive Angela Kerins to disclose her salary sooner rather than later to show there is transparency in the charity sector and avoid further damage to public confidence in charities.
Minister for Enteprise Richard Bruton and Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney both made the call on Ms Kerins and the Rehab board to move to end the controversy regarding her salary as soon as possible.
Asked about Ms Kerins’s non-disclosure to date, Mr Bruton said he believed there should be a full declaration of salaries across the charity sector in keeping with the Government’s efforts to ensure proper accountability and transparency in the sector.
“There are many areas of Irish life that have been too closed and clearly the Minister for Justice wants to make sure that accountability and good value for money is achieved, and I believe there should be a full declaration of salaries - public confidence is really important in this sector.”
The board of Rehab has said it will discuss the issue at its board meeting of February 17th, but Mr Bruton echoed Public Accounts Committee chairman John McGuinness when he said the issue should be addressed much sooner than this.
“I think there is an urgency in this area to make sure that public confidence is upheld ...the chairman of the PAC has said that that is too long a period. I think the board has to take account of what he has said and factor that into their thinking. I think an earlier disclosure would be desirable.”
Mr Coveney echoed Mr Bruton in calling on Ms Kerins to disclose her salary, but also called for balance in the public discussion of the issue and cautioned against any witch hunt of individuals in the charity sector over salaries.
“Yes, I think that she should disclose her salary, but also I don’t think people should be speaking about Angela Kerins like she’s somebody who’s doing something terribly wrong. I think that the salary of CEOs across the charity sector should certainly be public knowledge.
“This is a woman who applied for a job, got that job on the basis of a salary and who is working to a contract, probably doing a very good job ... She is, I’m sure, a very competent CEO working to a contract and would have been successful when she competed for that job on the basis of a salary.
“People need to get balance into this discussion - yes, i think the public have a right to know the salaries of senior management across the charity sector ... I think it would be helpful if we got that information from her sooner rather than later, rather than allowing the thing drag on.”
Mr Coveney said he accepted that the Central Remedial Clinic controversy had damaged people's perception of the charity sector and he had lot of sympathy for people working in the sector who were finding it difficult to raise money and meet targets because of that changed public view.
“I think the sooner we can clean up any misunderstandings or concerns that the public may have, the better, so that we can get back to helping charities do what they do best which is raising money for very good causes and spending that money responsibly,” he said.
