5. Employee benefits expense

The average number of employees during the financial year was as follows:

2020

2019

Ferries

203

218

Container and Terminal

88

91

291

309

Number of employees at financial year-end

288

307

2020

2019

€m

€m

Aggregate costs of employee benefits were as follows:

Wages and salaries

14.4

18.7

Covid-19 government subsidies

(1.7)

-

Social insurance costs

1.3

1.8

Defined benefit obligations – current service cost (note 32 vii)

1.7

1.5

Defined benefit obligations – settlement loss / (curtailment gain) (note 32 vii)

9.3

(0.1)

Defined benefit obligations – augmentation cost

1.1

-

Defined contribution pension scheme – pension cost (note 32)

0.4

0.4

Share-based payment expense (note 31)

1.9

2.1

Total employee benefit costs incurred

28.4

24.4

Wages and salaries costs capitalised

-

(0.1)

Amounts recognised as non-trading item (note 10)

(10.4)

(0.5)

Total employee benefit before non-trading items

18.0

23.8

There were no staff costs capitalised during the financial year (2019: €0.1 million) in relation to management and supervision of the contracts for the construction of new vessels. Of the total employee expense of €28.4 million, €10.4 million relating to defined benefit scheme settlement losses and augmentation costs were included as part of the reported non-trading item (note 10). In the prior reporting period €0.5 million of employee benefit costs were included as part of non-trading items.