The old guard are back to their old ways - Gilmore

Posted on November 18, 2009 at 01:08 PM

"The old guard are back to their old ways, they are trying to call the shots," the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD said in the Dáil today during Leaders' Questions.

Eamon made the remarks following the revelation that AIB wished to appoint the same person as chairman and chief executive, an executive chairman, as well as appointing a managing director internally and exceeding the cap on salaries.

Eamon said: "One newspaper reported this morning that the Minister for Finance went to Cabinet seeking approval for the salary sought by the bank; that is €633,000. Is this the case? Will the Government allow AIB to appoint the same person as chairman and chief executive and what level of pay will be approved for the post?

Given that we are now funding and guaranteeing the banks and taking bad loans from them, Eamon said we would expect the Taoiseach to know whether these people are paying themselves more than the Government wants.

"The banks are still calling the shots. The old guard is still in place. If one looks at the boards of directors of the banks, for example, apart from the public interest directors, those directors who are there at present were there at the time the collapse happened and the guarantee had to be introduced.

"In Allied Irish Banks, ten of the ten who are there now were there then.

"In Bank of Ireland the figure is 11 of 13. We have seen little or no change at the top boards of the banks and they are calling the shots. The test as to whether they are calling the shots is not on the salary. The test is whether the Taoiseach will allow this bank to appoint an executive chairman."

You can see Eamon's full contribution in the video and read the entire exchange on the Oireachtas website.

You can also let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Tagged with Finance