EXCLUSIVE: Council paid out over €800,000 in gratuities to staff in the last three years
One employee of the local authority was given a gratuity of €160,398 last year
Carlow County Council has paid out over €800,000 in gratuities to staff in the last three years, Carlow Live can reveal.
One employee of the local authority was given a gratuity of €160,398 in 2018.
Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request showed that Carlow County Council paid out €802,866 in gratuities between 2016 and 2018 with €546,000 of that spent last year.
The FOI request sought the amounts paid in gratuities and separately, the amounts paid in severance packages for 2016, 2017 and 2018 to staff and a breakdown of the employees' titles/roles in the local authority.
A gratuity is a sum of money paid to an employee at the end of a period of employment.
The details of the gratuities were "anonymised as the information sought is deemed personal to the employee and the list of job titles together with service years does not correspond" with details of the gratuities paid out.
The information provided showed that an unnamed "Employee 4" last year was given a gratuity of €160,398 while an "Employee 1" received €127,952.
The job titles of those who received gratuities between 2016 and 2018 and their years of service breaks down as follows:
Cleaner (3.6 *years of service)
School Warden (9.2)
Administrative Officer (14.6)
Technician Grade 1 (17.8)
Staff Officer (19.3)
Ganger (37.9)
Staff Officer (38.5)
General Operative (39.8)
Labourer 3 (40)
Senior Engineer (40)
Director of Service (40)
Administrative Officer (40)
Chargehand (40)
General Operative (42)
The local authority added: "The request in relation to severance packages paid to staff in 2016, 2017 and 2018 is refused as no record exists, i.e. no severance packages were paid to staff."
The total amounts paid out in gratuities were:
2016: Employee 1 (€47,286.69)
2016: Employee 2 (€44,594.94)
2016: Employee 3 (€33,861.52)
2016: Employee 4 (€44,894.10)
2016 TOTAL: €170,637.25
2017: Employee 1 (€47,316.10)
2017: Employee 2 (€28,493.51)
2017: Employee 3 (€3,316.88)
2017: Employee 4 (€6,587.50)
2017 TOTAL: €85,713.99
2018: Employee 1 (€127,952.61)
2018: Employee 2 (€61,452.12)
2018: Employee 3 (€33,866.87)
2018: Employee 4 (€160,398.85)
2018: Employee 5 (€66,920.44)
2018: Employee 6 (€95,925.23)
2018 TOTAL: €546,516.12