MICHAEL FINGLETON received pay of €221,000 for his final four months as chief executive of Irish Nationwide last year, according to the building society’s 2009 report.
Mr Fingleton resigned as chief executive at the end of April 2009 after it emerged that he had received a €1 million bonus just weeks after the Government introduced the State bank guarantee the previous September.
His four-month pay package included a salary of €196,000 and a further €25,000 in benefits and other pay, the details of which were not disclosed in the report.
Mr Fingleton’s pay for the period exceeds the Government’s €500,000 pay cap for top bankers calculated on an annualised basis.
Claims were made by the Opposition in the Dáil that the pay cap had also been breached by a €1.45 million top-up to Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher’s pension fund.
But Taoiseach Brian Cowen insisted that Mr Boucher was not receiving any additional pay or pension entitlements.
Responding to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who asked if he was prepared to intervene to prevent the top-up as he was entitled to do under the legislation setting up the bank guarantee scheme, Mr Cowen said contrary to the way it was being portrayed, the payment was being made into an overall fund that provided for pensions for most Bank of Ireland staff.
Mr Cowen said the payment into the pension fund was being made because, unlike public service pensions, it must be pre-funded and that was being done to allow Mr Boucher to retire when he is due to retire.
“Contrary to speculation, it does not undermine the salary cap imposed by Government on the sector’s executives and directors of the covered financial institutions that was introduced by Government last year,” he said.
Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore disputed the Taoiseach’s view that Mr Boucher was not receiving an enhanced pension.