SEANAD REPORT:THE APPOINTMENT of Richie Boucher as chief executive of Bank of Ireland was possibly the most disgraceful appointment in the business world in living memory, partly because "it was a political, national and commercial imperative" that the bank did not appoint an insider, Shane Ross (Ind) said.
It was a devastating blow to those who wished to revive the fortunes, morale and confidence in the banks.
“Mr Goggin is gone and Mr Boucher, son of Brian, is appointed.”
Mr Ross said it had been even more devastating to read in The Irish Times yesterday “and see my view confirmed that the new chief executive oversaw the growth of the bank’s Irish development and land bank loans to €7.1 billion”. In other words, the man being put in place was the same person who had been partly responsible for toxic loans that had devastated the country and had left the economy in bits.
Mr Ross asked if the ministerial appointees on the board had been asleep when this had happened or had they been doing Mr Lenihan’s bidding? If they had been, the Government might as well give up on imposing a new culture on the banks. Mr Ross said he was making no personal reflection on Mr Boucher.
Paul Coghlan (FG) asked what say, if any, did the Government have on this appointment. “I have no doubt he is an excellent banker, but what kind of signal are we sending out?”
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Eoghan Harris (Ind) said he deplored and condemned gardaí for marching on the streets of Dublin in protest at Government policy.
“The gardaí do not just comprise any group in society but are role models for our people. They have no business being on the streets at a difficult time of incipient civil unrest like this.
“We politicians, the political class, the gardaí and responsible people in society have an obligation to stand firm and stop posturing.
“We are not Quakers and cannot be friends to all and enemies to none. Far too many politicians in both houses are behaving as if they were Quakers.
“We will have to toughen up and be ready to take the harsh measures, and we will have to lead from the front. We should start taking cuts and index them to the continuing cuts because there will be more in the public and private sectors. It is time we toughened up and took as a role model the chief of staff of the Irish Defence Forces, Lieut Gen Dermot Earley, who told his men some days ago that they would do their duty in the event of public unrest and public striking. We should do the same,” Mr Harris said.