Senior figures in Northern Ireland’s Education Authority have benefited from bumper pay rises while concerns mount over funding for special needs education.
The authority’s latest set of annual accounts show a huge increase for interim head of finance Shane McCurdy.
Retired principal Colm Davis: he says while senior figures at the Northern Ireland Education Authority have had generous pay rises school leaders have seen their pay frozen
His overall pay, including pension benefits, rose from between £115,000 and £120,000 in 2014/15 to £175,000 to £180,000 in 2015/16.
Other senior figures saw their salaries rise by between £15,000 and £20,000 in the same period.
Concerns over education cuts
Meanwhile, amid growing concerns over education cuts, the Children’s Law Centre, in Belfast, said it had seen an unprecedented number of calls from special needs families.
Colm Davis is the retired principal of Tor Bank special needs school in Dundonald, Northern Ireland.
Pay rises ‘generous’ at the top
He said school leaders have had their pay frozen. Meanwhile, he said “those at the top of the Education Authority infrastructure are given generous pay rises”.
In addition, he said others made redundant get “generous pay-offs”.
In the same period, the authority’s regional managing directors Barry Mulholland and Gregory Butler, both now retired, pocketed rises of between £15,000 and £20,000. So, too, did head of resources Robbie McGreevy.
Including pension benefits, the three got between £105,000 and £140,000 in 2015/16.
Over the same period chief executive Gavin Boyd, whose pay comes from Northern Ireland’s Department of Education, saw his salary rise from between £190,000 and £195,000 to between £195,000 and £200,000.
The authority said pay increases were due either to promotions or a rise up pay scales.
Also, increasing pension contributions on promotion is in line with practice for all education staff, a spokesperson added.
Related:
- Northern Ireland funding ‘not enough’
- Parents take action over N Ireland cuts
- Cuts hit ‘crucial help’ in N Ireland
- Parents defy dire services in N Ireland
- Huge increase in diagnosis in N Ireland
Published: 25 January 2018
