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TWO PUBLIC INTEREST Directors at Bank of Ireland have been paid over half a million euro since their appointment by the former Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan in 2009.
Joe Walsh and Tom Considine, who were appointed to ensure the bailed-out banks act in the public interest, have appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform to be questioned by TDs and Senators for the first time today.
In response a question by the chairman Ciaran Lynch, Walsh said that he had received a salary of €80,000 in 2009. In 2010 and 2011 he received €79,000, and in 2012 received €89,000.
Considine told the Committee that he received €79,000 in 2009, €90,000 in 2010 and 2011, and €97, 650 in 2012.
The two Public Interest Directors (PIDs) confirmed they received a combined total of almost €700,000 since their appointment, plus expenses.
When questioned about the amount claimed in expenses, both said they had claimed expenses in 2009 but had not done so in the past three years. They did not provide figures of the amounts claimed.
Role
Walsh and Considine were asked what differences existed between their roles as Public Interest Directors and regular directors at Bank of Ireland.
While recognising that PIDs do not formally report the Minister for Finance, Department of Finance or the Central Bank, Walsh said that he was nevertheless “cognisant and very aware” of the expectations of him in the role.
Considine said that while all directors – PIDs or otherwise – have the same legal underpinning and are charged with same job of running the bank, PIDs bring their particular “background” to their roles to ensure the bailed-out bank act in the public interest.
Peter Matthews TD suggested that Walsh and Considine ”didn’t really have” a job description.
Meanwhile, Shane Ross asked Walsh, when he would stand for election again – to which he replied: “That does not apply”.
Mortgages
The two were also questioned about the culture of remuneration at the bank.
Richard Boyd Barret asked the PIDs if they believed it was “fair” that Bank of Ireland’s Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Ireland Richie Boucher, who receives a salary 20 times the average industrial wage, publicly ruled out debt forgiveness for distressed mortgage holders.
In response, Considine said that the bank needed to be in a “sustainable position” in order to support itself.
It was revealed this month that both AIB and Bank of Ireland are paying a large number of staff members more than €100,000 per year.
Credit card hike
The PIDs were also questioned about yesterday’s announcement that Bank of Ireland will increase the variable interest rates applied on its credit cards.
The interest rates have been increased by between 0.7 per cent and 4 per cent, depending on the specific credit card held by customers.
Walsh told the Committee that it was “a pity” that the increase had to be applied – and just one week ahead of Christmas – but that the majority of customers settled their cards at the end of each month and so would not be charged.
He added that the bank needed to be in a “viable position” and that other charges had also been raised to ensure this.
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I hereby submit an improved bid of €2.50, two cans of Tanora (expiry March 2023), a copy of yesterday’s Irish Examiner (mint condition, only read once) and a handful of mini-Bounties that were not claimed from last Christmas’s tub of Celebrations.
@Kevin Collins: I like the mini Bountys!
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: freak
@Dave: And I would prefer one of the dark chocolate Bountys in the red wrapper!
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: sweet jesus
What the article neglects to mention is the lift will not only service the three stories within the building, but also the nine levels of Hell.
Must be a few Masons on the board allowing it to be sold for only €1. Very little green space in the city as it is, and with all their green talk, just shows how little they actually value it.
@Ross O’: Day Boyle would change his opinion fast if there was ever an emergency in the building
‘Who controls the British Crown, who keeps the metric system down….’
@Ronan Mc: We do
Would they do the same if rolls were reversed?
I’m surprised it wasn’t €33
@Dave Huston 5 Blocked By Journal again.: or 666
@Dave Huston 5 Blocked By Journal again.:OMG my ‘like’ was a ’33′!!
FFS. Give éire back to éire, once and for all. The amount of ‘freemasons’ around the world, do not need any part of our Island……….. Go phuck yourselves, Mason
…………
@Joseph Mc Dermott: I’m surprised that the censors understood the significance of 33 and 666.
Why do freemasons still exist?
@Pat the Baker: Why do Christians still exist, in the 21st century? It’s a mystery.
@Pat the Baker: an inner circle established to promote the interests of their membership…some things never change
@Tom: the Catholic Church prohibits membership of the FM as far as I remember.
@Tom: plenty of christians I’m afraid, how this superstition is still alive is a mystery
@Dermattg: I think that was politcal as Freemasons were traditionally Protestant, at least the ones based in Ireland of Christain faith.
@Dermot Lane: Freemasons are a secret society who behave in undemocratic ways across the British Empire – not suitable for a republic.
Not unlike the catholic church, they interfere in politics behind the scenes of course so no-one can challenge them.
@Pat the Baker: Knights of Columbanus ditto!
@Tom: If you really look into it the God they worship (the “Light-Giver”) appears to be Lucifer as that’s what Lucifer means.
Why was the bid not €666 ?
@BLD Games: cos the Masons don’t have any link to the emperor Nero, that we know of.
The Tuckey St. Masonic Hall is beautiful inside.
People need more parks in cities not less. Inner cities turning into wastelands populated by sports clothing outlets. Depressing.
Why not indeed
I mean, it costs alot of money for the upkeep of the massive building they own on Molesworth St. In fact, i think its half of one side of the street.
I mean, they are not made of money.
Or are they ?
The Peace Park is built partly on top of a mass grave dating from the Siege of 1690.
@Seamus Enright: The Peace Park is often not very peaceful! One of the dodgiest parts of the city.
They really know how to put the “free” in to “Freemason”
“The Freemasons are a fraternal organisation whose main operations in Ireland include charity fundraising. ”
What rubbish. They are a secret society who at the higher Degrees incorporate blood-curdling oaths against revealing Masonic secrets. How this kind of deal was even considered beggars belief.
Women should be allowed to be in The ‘sexist’ Masons
Sell it for a proper price it’s public money they are dealing with. No giv aways.
What is it with ffg they just can’t stop giving our land away to private entities for near to nothing
have your say