The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has reported an operational surplus of €313,080 for its most recent accounting year.
The IFA’s income was around €15.7 million for the relevant year, while its expenditure in the same period was approximately €15.2 million.
The association said that its accounts for the year ended March 31 “reflect a return to activities after Covid-19”.
The annual accounts were approved at a meeting of the IFA national council today (Tuesday, December 20).
IFA national treasurer Martin Stapleton said the return of many activities that were restricted during Covid-19 is reflected in expenditure, which increased by around €1 million compared to the previous year.
The increase in the value of investments at March 31, 2022, was €1.6 million. This resulted in an overall accounting surplus of almost €1.9 million, with the total consolidated assets of the association at €16.4 million at March 31, 2022.
“It is difficult to draw comparisons from one year to the next due to the impact of Covid-19 on our activities. The next financial year to March 2023 will reflect a full return to normal activities,” Stapleton commented.
He added: “We have also considerable inflationary pressure in the system, like everybody in the economy. This will pose challenges in terms of managing our resources for next year, and the years ahead.
“We are fortunate to have reasonable reserves in the association which have been built up over the years. However, even since year-end, share values have declined globally so we cannot be complacent.
“The reality is that in order to go toe-to-toe with major political institutions such as the EU, our own state, and well-resourced global businesses, we need to maintain a strong balance sheet,” Stapleton added.
IFA salaries
The IFA’s remuneration committee agreed that the office of association president should attract a salary of €139,836. This is reduced by any directors’ fees paid to the president by outside bodies that came as a consequence of the IFA office.
Thus, Tim Cullinan’s net salary paid by the IFA for the most recent financial year was €54,591, a decrease from €90,430 from 2021.
The numeration committee agreed that the deputy president’s salary should be €40,785. This is also reduced by outside fees, meaning deputy president Brian Rushe received €16,280 from the organisation in the 2022 financial year, compared to €20,373 in the previous year.
Director general Damien McDonald saw an increase in remuneration to €193,012, up from €185,350 the previous year (not including employer pension contribution).
Looking at the combined salary of the association’s executive management, this amounted to €522,060, an increase from €492,445 year-on-year (not including employer pension contribution).
In addition to the above remuneration, €275,000 of the prior year restructuring charge of €428,628 was paid out in the most recent year.
During the previous year, the association provided the above amount to support a restructuring program to reduce staff costs.
The remainder of the IFA national council saw net remuneration in the 2022 financial year of €97,260, a substantial increase on the prior year figure of €5,295.
The average remuneration of the association’s top 15 staff members in the most recent accounting year was €86,345, a slight decrease on the prior year figure of €86,840 (not including employer pension contribution).