Colm Doherty's €3m payment

Madam, – On December 14th, 2010, minister for finance Brian Lenihan wrote to the chairman of AIB to create what he later described…

Madam, – On December 14th, 2010, minister for finance Brian Lenihan wrote to the chairman of AIB to create what he later described as a “supervening event” whereby he gave the board of AIB a legal escape route from paying bonuses to staff members of AIB Capital Markets. By making further State funding conditional upon the non-payment of the bonuses, he made it impossible for AIB to pay the bonuses. Why could the same rules not apply to Mr Doherty? In fact, given the state of AIB’s finances, Mr Doherty’s responsibilities as a director of AIB should have prohibited him from accepting any such termination payment or pension enhancement. – Yours, etc,

PHILIP O’CONNOR, Wainsfort Road, Dublin 6W.

Madam, – Former AIB boss Colm Doherty may have been contractually entitled to his €3 million payoff: that does not mean he is obliged to keep it.

Given that AIB may possibly be a financial burden on the State and taxpayers for generations to come, should not the Government publicly ask Mr Doherty to return some of the money? – Yours, etc,

PAUL TIERNEY, Ballinamult, Co Waterford.