THE guidelines which govern the pay of senior semi State executives should be scrapped, according to the new president of the Institute of Directors in Ireland, Mr John Callaghan.

"High quality managers would not take up semi state positions if the remuneration for similar jobs elsewhere is significantly higher," according to Mr Callaghan. The Devlin and Gleeson guidelines were "never right" and had certainly now outlived their relevance, he added.

Mr Callaghan said the remuneration of semi state chief executives should be set in the same way as successful private sector companies through a committee of independent non executive directors.