The six executive directors of Jefferson Smurfit Group received an average remuneration package of almost £1.9 million each last year. This makes them by far the highest paid directors of an Irish public company despite Smurfit slipping to sixth in the Irish stock market. However their 1998 package is slightly less than the £2 million average remuneration they received in 1997.

The six directors include the three Smurfit brothers, Michael, Dermot and Alan, Dr Michael Smurfit's son Tony, Mr Paddy Wright and Mr Ray Curran, who left the Smurfit board in late 1998 to move to Smurfit Stone in the US.

Salaries last year rose from £2.95 million to £3.2 million, while the annual bonus jumped from £3.3 million to £4.1 million. "Other benefits rose from £266,000 to £310,000, while pension contributions for the six directors rose from £1.3 million to almost £1.5 million. The only element of the remuneration package to fall last year was the long term incentive accrual which fell from £4.4 million to £2.1 million.

The 10 non-executive directors shares total remuneration of £668,000 - an average of £66,800 each, compared to the £744,000 shared by 11 non-executives in 1997 - an average of £67,740 each.