Public interest directors say they were never given any guidelines by minister

Mr Considine said he agreed that debt could be written down as part of the final solution to chronically distressed loans.

Mr Walsh, who sits on the bank’s remuneration committee, was also criticised by Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty for overseeing some €66 million in bonuses paid to senior staff while the bank was in receipt of a bailout.

Mr Walsh said he had been paid €80,000 in 2009, €79,000 in 2010 and 2011 and €89,000 in 2012.

Mr Considine said he was paid €79,000 in 2009, €90,000 in 2010 and 2011 and €97,650 this year.

Both men are among the highest paid public interest directors in the Irish banking system.

Public interest directors. Who they are... and what they earn:

AIB

Dick Spring

The former tánaiste and former leader of the Labour Party has been a public interest director at AIB since 2009. Between 2009 and 2011 he was paid €132,000 in fees.

Declan Collier

The former chief executive of the Dublin Airport Authority was a director between 2009 and June this year. He was paid €140,000 in fees up to the end of 2011.

IBRC

Alan Dukes

The former Fine Gael minister for finance is in a slightly different position as he is chairman of the former Anglo Irish Bank and has played an executive role. He was paid €102,000 in 2009, €127,000 in 2010 and €150,000 in 2011. In 2012 said he would accept a fee of €112,500, some €100,000 less than the fee agreed by the board.

EBS

Anthony Spollen

A former head of group audit at AIB who now works as an internal audit consultant. He was paid fees of €81,000 between 2009 and 2011.

Ann Riordan

The founding head of Microsoft Ireland in 1990 before retiring in 2001.

Over the same three-year period she received fees of €82,000 as director.

Bank of Ireland

Joe Walsh

The former Fianna Fáil minister for agriculture Joe Walsh received fees of €238,000 between 2009 and 2011.

Tom Considine

He is a former secretary general of the Department of Finance. He was paid a total of €259,000 in the three years between 2009 and 2011.

Permanent TSB

Margaret Hayes

Former secretary general of the Department of Tourism and Trade, now a barrister. Also a director of Tourism Ireland. Paid €205,000 in fees between 2009 and 2011.

Ray MacSharry

A former EU commissioner and Fianna Fáil minister for finance. Told a Dáil committee the bank would not forgive debt. Paid €181,000 in fees between 2009 and 2011.