CIE Group Chief Executive Michael McDonnell has announced his retirement.
Mr McDonnell has been in charge of CIE since 1995 after coming from the upper ranks of the civil service, where he served in the departments of finance and public enterprise.
However, his relationship with his political boss - the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke - has been described as strained. Recent controversies have dogged him in recent times. Among them was a deal between Iarnrod Eireann and Esat to lay fibre optic cable along the national rail network. This is being investigated by an Oireachtas Committee as part of its inquiries into another controversy.
The company has also been badly affected by strikes, and there was a much publicised dispute over his salary increase last year to £180,000.
CIE gave no details of his retirement package, but commentators said he was likely to leave with a lump sum plus a pension. If his salary increase is upheld by the courts, he could be on a pension of up to £90,000 a year.
