Government scraps rule capping bankers' pay at €500,000 after selling off last of the State's shares in AIB

The Irish Sun

5 hours ago

THE Government has scrapped a rule that caps bankers' pay at €500,000 after selling off the last of the State's shares in AIB that were purchased during the infamous bailout.
In the aftermath of the financial crash, the Irish taxpayer was forced to pay out tens of billions of euros to rescue
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It comes after it sold off the last of the State's shares in AIB
Credit: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo
As part of this bailout, a series of rules were put in place to tackle the banking sector - including a pay cap of €500,000 per year for staff at banks where the State owned a stake.
Having now sold off all its shares in Bank of Ireland and AIB, Finance Minister
He said: 'I understand that any decision like this with regard to bank pay is one that will always be viewed critically by people.
'But what I would like to say to those – and there are many who continue to be concerned – is that firstly, I don't believe it is correct we set pay in a company that we no longer have any share in.
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'As a small open economy we're trying to attract investment into our economy and I would hope that banks like AIB and Bank of Ireland will continue to be able to attract investment in their future.
'For that reason, us playing a role in setting their pay when we no longer own a single share in those companies is not appropriate.'
The State still owns a 57 per cent stake in PTSB, which is valued at €600 million.
However, Minister Donohoe said he wanted to lift the pay cap for this bank as well as he believed keeping it in place would put them at a competitive disadvantage.
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Sinn Fein's
She also hit out at the process of selling off the AIB shares as she claimed the Government lost out on €5 billion by flogging them too quickly.
FINAL SHARES SOLD
In 2022, the Government sold off its final shares in Bank of Ireland.
Over recent years, the State has sold its shares in AIB on a phased basis, with the final two per cent of ownership flogged this week.
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In total, Ireland received €29 billion from the selloff of AIB and Bank of Ireland shares – not including the 57 per cent stake in PTSB that is currently worth €600 million.
Taxpayers forked out €29.4 billion to the three banks in 2009.
The full cost of the bailout process is estimated to have cost the State more than €64 billion when other banks are included, such as Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Nationwide and EBS.
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The Government has scrapped a rule that caps bankers' pay at €500,000
Credit: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo
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