The members only have themselves to blame. Did no one ever look at the accounts? Maybe more trade union members will start taking an interest in where there money is going.
Staggering though that any organisation could agree to such a package. It is obscene. Is the pension fund fully funded?
And there's the rub. This was
not disclosed in the accounts until a few weeks ago.
What was accrued for McNiece in the pension fund was €4.5M. This was included in the 2011 and earlier accounts, though not specifically identified. What was not included in the accounts was that there was a "secret" negotiation to give him an extra €1.5M on early retirement
plus a defined pension worth almost €20M. Yes that's right, an
additional €20M over and above that accrued in the pension fund.
The IMO reported accrued reserves of €6M in its 2011 accounts. If McNiece had disclosed his secret package, and he was the chief officer of the management committee and therefore responsible for the accounts, the accounts would have shown a deficit of €14M i.e. 4 full years' subscriptions and the IMO would have been wound up.
As it happens, he negotiated a settlement which cleaned the IMO out; it has a deficit of 600K in 2012 after paying McNiece €5M of that undisclosed €20M. The Treasurer unbelievably states in the 2012 accounts that it had always been the intention to give a fully transparent disclosure of these arrangements. Telling someone that their pockets have been picked after the event is not fully transparent disclosure.
The level of obfuscation from the IMO is quite unbelievable. At first they tried to pin the deal on a dead ex president. It now transpires that the deal was signed after his death by another ex president. A 2003 speech to the IMO from this latter gentleman extolls the virtues of Mr McNiece who "has been a dear friend" for over 10 years. Dr James Reilly, a member of the remuneration committee that oversaw McNiece's arrangements, has been silent so far.
If there had been proper disclosure in the accounts, there is no way members would have continued to pay subscriptions. There is going to be an "independent" enquiry into IMO governance. It must surely conclude that members have been subscribing under false pretences over the last several years. The available assets of the IMO should be retuned to those members and at least McNiece would not get his €3.5M DB payments over the next 16 years.
Trust me, members are hopping mad. It is churlish of some in this thread to divert their disgust onto doctors and consultants. As it happens the IMO does not represent consultants. McNiece was not a doctor. He found himself as CEO of an organisation which employs around 25 staff and has annual subscription income of €3.5M and managed to negotiate himself a severance package worth 7 full years' subscriptions or 100 times his salary at time of negotiation in 2003.
Finally it would be wrong to say that they hired private jets on a routine basis, only occasionally.