In his foreword, finance committee chair John McGuinness said the report is “about how much a government will allow its people to be mistreated by powerful institutions and the central and very responsible role bankers, including our Central Bank, and other professionals in our society have”.
On the issue of bankers’ remuneration, the report notes that the Government’s plan to remove restrictions on executive pay and bonuses in the sector is “inappropriate” and could damageFollowing a review by the Department of Finance, the Cabinet in November approved a proposal to reintroduce bonuses and gradually lift a €500,000 executive pay cap across banks that were bailed out by the State in the wake of the 2008 crisis.
“These restrictions were rightly imposed in recognition of the focus placed by bankers on increasing their own pay rather than the interests of consumers and the stability of the financial system,” the committee said. “This was and continues to remain entirely appropriate, further justified by recent failings in domestic retail banks and their failure to put the interests of consumers first.”
The post-2008 financial crisis-era cap on bankers’ pay remains “entirely appropriate” given the “demonstrable and significant harm that retail banks have inflicted on their customers as recently as [last year]” (are we to surmise that the cap has not mitigated such behaviour?)