Bishops’ staff paid up to €130k a year

Top-earning officials of the Irish Bishops’ Conference are being paid up to €130,000.00 per year, according to latest accounts.

Accounts for the ‘hierarchy general purposes trust’ for 2014 reveal that one employee in the Church’s central administration is paid between €120,000 and €130,000 per year, a second is paid between €110,000 and €120,000 and a third employee is paid between €70,000 and €80,000. None of the high-earning officials are named in the report.

In 2014, the hierarchy spent almost €1.5million (€1,465,175) on salaries and pensions on employees in the headquarters in Maynooth and in Veritas, the Church’s publishing house.

The figures do not include staff who work for Trócaire, ACCORD, Catholic Marriage Care Service; and CURA, crisis pregnancy support services.

Separate accounts for Trócaire reveal that the agency has 13 staff earning more than €70,000 per year, with one person earning in excess of €120,000.