A total of 152 staff at the State-owned airport operator Daa earned above €150,000 each last year, figures show.
Official figures also reveal the chief executive at the group, which runs Dublin and Cork airports and other subsidiaries, was not the organisation’s highest-paid staff member in 2024.
Last year one unnamed person had total remuneration of between €475,000 and €500,000. The company’s chief executive Kenny Jacobs received a total package of €374,830.
In a statement, Daa said it was a commercial business that received no public funding and that it had to compete internationally for key personnel.
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Eamon Ryan, then minister for transport, set out remuneration levels for the top earners at Daa in an appendix to a submission sent last summer to a Government-appointed pay review for chief executives of commercial State companies.
Mr Ryan’s submission, which has been released by the Department of Transport, was based on figures for 2023.
Those figures showed three staff were paid more than the chief executive, who that year received total remuneration of €347,457. The three were paid between €350,000 and €375,000.
The document showed 137 personnel received total remuneration of more than €150,000 each in 2023.
Mr Ryan’s submission to the senior posts remuneration committee said that 3,864 personnel at Daa group earned less than €50,000, although this included part-time staff.
He said remuneration for CEOs varied across international competitors in the aviation sector.
Mr Ryan noted the head of Fraport, which runs Frankfurt Airport and has contracts at 30 others worldwide, had a total package of €1.65 million, while the head of Aena, the state company that manages 46 airports in Spain, was paid €186,575 in 2023.
Daa’s annual report for 2024 showed 152 people received €150,000 or more last year.
In addition, 88 employees were paid between €125,000 and €150,000, while 187 earned between €100,000 and €125,000.
The company said: “The State does not fund the remuneration of Daa staff, as Daa operates as a commercial business and receives no public funding.
“Aviation is a global industry and Daa competes for talent against other international airports and aviation businesses, as well as international retailers.
“Daa is a multinational commercial enterprise with operations in 14 countries across four continents, with several CEOs and management teams.”
The annual report said Mr Jacobs received total remuneration of €374,830 last year – up from €347,457 the previous year. It said this figure included basic salary of €284,235 and pension contributions and other taxable benefits of €90,595 . It said Mr Jacobs did not receive a director’s fee.
Last month the Cabinet accepted many of the recommendations of the senior post remuneration committee.
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said the upper limit on any proposed package would be the market rate.
However, there would be no backdating of any increases to May 1st of last year, another committee recommendation, and no reintroduction of performance-related bonuses worth up to 25 per cent of salaries, which was also proposed.
