Pressure grows on Irish Nationwide head to resign

Pressure is increasing on Irish Nationwide chief executive Michael Fingleton to step down amid reports that a potential successor has decided not to take the role.

The Green Party today called on Mr Fingleton to resign immediately and to repay a €1 million bonus he received after the State guarantee scheme for Irish financial institutions came into operation last September.

The party's finance spokesman Senator Dan Boyle said Mr Fingleton's conduct to date was a disgrace while his failure to hand back bonus payments "showed contempt for all Irish citizens".

“Michael Fingleton has come to personify all that is wrong with Irish banking. That he has remained so long in position while others have fallen on their swords is a complete mystery. He should not continue in that position of trust in what is after all, supposed to be a mutual society,” said Mr Boyle.

“Mr Fingleton has run the Irish Nationwide Building Society like his own personal fiefdom. His conduct shows little care for savers and homeowners who have placed considerable faith — and in some cases placed their life’s chances and the fortunes of their families — in the care of that institution," he added.

A spokesman for the Department of Finance said yesterday  that the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan would meet the board of the building society this week and raise both issues in discussions.

The department is seeking the repayment of the bonus paid to Mr Fingleton last November just weeks after the introduction of the guarantee on September 30th.

It is also investigating whether Mr Fingleton was the sole beneficiary of a €27.6 million settlement by the society of a defined benefit pension in 2007.

Meanwhile, it is reported that a potential replacement to Mr Fingleton has decided not to take on the role following the Government's decision to seek a salary cap for bank executives.

According to RTÉ, a successor to Mr Fingleton, who was already expected to step down as chief executive this year, has decided against taking the position after the publication of a report from Covered Institutions Remuneration Oversight Committee (Ciroc) which recommended that the head of Irish Nationwide should be paid no more than €360,000 per annum.

The report also called for a salary cap of €690,000 for the chief executives of the State's largest banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland. However, the Minister for Finance has written to the seven institutions covered by the guarantee seeking a salary cap of €500,000 or lower.