Taoiseach wants pay of bank chiefs cut by 25%

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen told the Dáil yesterday that executives hired to work at banks receiving state funds, such as Bank of Ireland and AIB, should take at least a 25% cut on basic pay.

Salaries should then be capped at that level, he said.

If implemented it would see the successor to Brian Goggin, who retires as chief executive of Bank of Ireland in the summer, start on a basic salary of around €866,000 ($1m), double the $500,000 a year salary cap that US president Barack Obama wants to impose on executives in the United States.