Macra CEO Mick Curran’s job seems to be safe after the publication of the organisation’s annual report for 2024.

He acknowledged a year ago that he would be preparing his own P45 if the accounts for the year were in any way similar to the just over €400,000 loss incurred in 2023.

In the end, Macra reported a small surplus of €19,214 for the year in which membership increased by 23% and expenditure dropped by almost €700,000.

Curran told the Irish Farmers Journal that the turnaround was not easy.

“It required hard decisions that our board were able to make,” he said, adding that “the changes made were necessary to secure the future of this great organisation”.

He forecast that Macra would make a larger financial surplus for 2025.

Macra, which currently has over 14,300 members, had previously announced that it would be increasing membership fees from 1 February of this year from €60 per year to €66.50 per year for a full member.

Scheme

A new youth membership scheme for people under the age of 23 was introduced, which replaced the previous student membership, at an annual cost of €46.50.

Included in the annual accounts for 2024 are an expense for doubtful debts of €27,121 and exceptional expenditure of €36,469 which Curran told the Irish Farmers Journal related to interest charged by Revenue on payments received by Macra from the COVID-19-era Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) which the organisation failed to meet the criteria for.

Macra owed €72,426 at the end of 2024 in repayments under the scheme.

Curran said that Macra had immediately withdrawn from the scheme when it became apparent that the organisation’s income during COVID-19 lockdown was not going to drop by the expected 25% - the level required to qualify for the TWSS.

Total bank borrowings dropped by almost €50,000 to €85,600.

The number of employees remained static at 24 while the wage bill dropped by €110,000 to €818,000.