Irish Cancer Society CEO announces decision to take salary cut to make funds available for families of children with cancer

The Irish Cancer Society’s CEO John McCormack has decided to take a salary cut as part of the charity’s effort to find the funds necessary to maintain its Financial Support Programme for the families of children with cancer.

The CEO has made a personal decision to reduce his salary by €10,000, from €145,000 to €135,000, effective from January 1st 2016.

Earlier this week the Society announced that it is ceasing its Financial Support Programme due to demand becoming too great to manage, alongside the need to maintain important free services, and against the background of a drop in fundraised income in 2015. However, the Society has decided to maintain the fund for the 200 children who get cancer every year, and their families, out of a recognition that the burden can be significant given that the duration of treatment for a child with cancer can be up to three years.

The Society now needs to find €200,000 in 2016, either through savings or fundraised income, to maintain the fund for the families of children with cancer.

Mr. McCormack said he has made the decision to take a pay cut as a personal contribution to the efforts by the Society to maintain the fund for children with cancer. His move will make €10,000 immediately available for the fund.

“I greatly regret that it has become necessary to close the Financial Support Programme for adults with cancer, and I sincerely apologise for the upset that this decision has caused, but considering that we are not funded by the state, and that we run a number of really important and free services for people with cancer, unfortunately it was necessary to do so”, Mr. McCormack said.

“Now more than ever the Irish Cancer Society needs the support of the people of Ireland if we are to maintain the free services for cancer patients, which are run only by us. These include our night nursing service, our Volunteer Driving Scheme, our free Cancer Nurseline, our Daffodil Centres in 13 hospitals, as well as the funds we spend on cancer research in Ireland”, he added.