EXECUTIVE directors at Bank of Ireland received average remuneration of £331,579 each in the year to the end of March, an average increase of 7.5 per cent each.

The annual report released yesterday reveals that the chief executive, Mr Pat Molloy, who is due to retire at the end of the year, is to become chairman of the Bristol and West Building Society. Mr Molloy will assume the non-executive role at the end of the year when the current chairman, Lord Armstrong, retires.

Bank of Ireland is scheduled to take over the building society on July 28th in a £600 million sterling deal. Lord Armstrong and Bristol and West's chief executive, Mr John Burke, are to join the Bank of Ireland board.

The remuneration package for executive directors for the year to end March cost the group £1,134,000 and was shared by three executive directors and by Mr Michael Meagher, who retired five months into the year on August 31st.

In addition to Mr Molloy and Mr Meagher, the executive directors were deputy chief executive Mr Maurice Keane, who has been tipped to replace Mr Molloy, and the chief executive of the retail division, Mr Pat McDowell. In the previous year four executive directors shared £1,234,000.

The package included salaries of £704,000 and performance bonuses of £301,000. The average performance bonus payment rose from £77,000 to £88,000, an increase of 14.3 per cent.

The bank's governor, Mr Howard Kilroy, and deputy governor, Mr Laurence Crowley, shared £182,000, up from £175,000 in the previous year, an increase of four per cent. Fees paid to seven non-executive directors fell to £151,000 from £152,000, while pension contributions fell to £5,000 from £6,000.

Bank of Ireland had an average of 10,755 full time employees in the year.