Sinn Fein ministry defends approving NI health chiefs' pay hike - as party goes on the attack over executive pay in the Republic
John O’Dowd’s finance department says it signed off the business case for a controversial back-dated pay hike for health chiefs – arguing that senior executives hadn’t had a pay rise in over two years.
It comes as the party goes on the attack in the Republic over pay rises for senior executives – telling the Dublin government it does not have to sign off on recommendations on CEO wage increases.
Last week, the News Letter revealed that in 2025, health minister Mike Nesbitt had signed off on arrangements for a 5-6% yearly pay increase for health trust executives, which is “not dependent on satisfactory performance”.
By the end of the deal, senior managers will have had their pay bumped up by over 20% – after a report agreed in the absence of ministers recommended a hike of anything up to 40%.
It means some executives will be earning up to a quarter of a million pounds as a basic salary – with a potential for an extra 10% on top for “additional duties”.
The Department of Health (DoH) says the expected bill for the pay increases is £978,000 in the current financial year, up from £679,000 in 2023/24.
It has cited a 2023 report which recommended immediately increasing salaries by an amount in the range 20-40%, “to re-establish competitive salaries and increase the applicant pools for recruitment”.
The framework recommended in that report was approved by Mr Nesbitt, and guarantees automatic progression up the pay scales each year until 2026/27. Anyone on ‘pay point 5’ when the deal was struck in 2023/24 would reach the “maximum pay value” by the end of the arrangement in 2027 – a band which currently sits at £248,572.
However, those undertaking “additional duties” such as “leading on a year-long project” – will be entitled “management allowances”. These extra payments would “ordinarily” be up to 5% on top of their main salaries – but in “exceptional cases” may reach a maximum of 10%.
The rise covers chief executives, executive directors and functional directors who operate at board level.
The Sinn Fein-run Department of Finance (DoF) says it signed off the back-dated rises covering 2023-24 and 2024-25 – pointing out that trust chiefs “had not received a pay award since the 2022-23 financial year”.
A DoF spokesperson said DoH “submitted a business case in March 2025 proposing the restructuring of pay structures senior staff in the health service.
“Following review and due diligence by DoF officials the Finance Minister approved the business case in May 2025, as with all such business cases it was approved on an assurance from the sponsor department that the proposed increases were affordable.
“It is ultimately a decision for the Minister of the relevant Department as to whether to proceed with a pay offer on the back of an approved business case. The business case related to the period 2023-24 and 2024-25”.
At the end of the last year Sinn Fein accused the Dublin government of wanting “to make millionaires out of our CEOs” over pay hikes for chief executives of public bodies.
On Tuesday, Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly slammed pay rises for chief executives of semi-state bodies such as Irish Water and port authorities. She criticised some chief executives getting “an increase of 33% and more salaries going up to €300,000 plus” – questioning the government’s priorities.
Fine Gael TD John Clendennen defended the pay rises, saying it was done through an “independent review process” and was “evidence based”.
On the NI pay rises, DoH says no uplift has been pre-determined for 2026/27, “but any award will be subject to Ministerial approval”. Asked about the total projected cost of the Senior Executive Pay Framework deal, DoH said the bill in each year was estimated to be: 2023/24 - £679k; 2024/25 - £796k; 2025/26 - £978k.
It said that in 2023, DoH reviewed the pay framework “introducing a modernised and reformed Senior Executive Pay Framework over a 3-year period beginning in the 23/24 Financial Year.
“The review was conducted in response to ongoing issues and to provide a report containing recommendations in relation to reform of these scales.
“This review was initiated in April 2023 and a report was delivered to the Department in October 2023.
“A key recommendation was to immediately increase salaries (a revalorisation) by an amount in the range 20-40%, to re-establish competitive salaries and increase the applicant pools for recruitment”, an official said.