Weekend Digest
THE LIVING expenses of former property deal-maker Derek Quinlan are being met by the Barclay brothers, a London court will hear this month, according to the Sunday Times.
The claim will emerge in proceedings being taken against the brothers by developer Paddy McKillen in a spat over ownership of the Maybourne Hotel Group, which includes the Connaught, Claridge’s and the Berkeley. McKillen, Quinlan and others, including Seán FitzPatrick, bought the group in 2004.
The court has been told that the Barclays made a donation to the Quinlan family in recent years to cover living expenses, before the brothers bought the debt backing Quinlan’s Maybourne stake. The Barclays moved on the group early last year and are now in dispute with McKillen, the last of the original shareholders.
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The Government may be forced to accept an internal candidate to take on the key post of secretary general at the Department of Finance, according to a report in the Sunday Independent.
The Minister had hoped to attract a high-profile external candidate for the plum job, with an eye on retiring head of Britain’s Office of Fair Trading John Fingleton. However, the paper reports that any outsiders with an interest in the post have indicated that they would be looking for salaries in the region of €400,000, twice the ceiling in place for the successor to Kevin Cardiff.
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AIB staff expect to hear this week about the terms of the redundancy package that will see more than 2,000 jobs be lost at the bank this year, the Sunday Business Postwrites.
The news is likely to emerge alongside full-year figures for 2011, which the bank is due to publish this week.
The Postsays staff are expected to receive an offer of three weeks pay per year of service, on top of the two weeks per year statutory redundancy.
Bank of Ireland is still negotiating terms on a similar package for 750 people.
