Big salary hikes put business chiefs on gravy train

MICHAEL BUCKLEY, the Corkman who heads AIB, saw a massive 48% rise in his pay packet in 2003 to almost €1.4 million, the bank’s annual report reveals.

Mr Buckley was paid a basic salary of €660,000 and a bonus of €570,000 compared with a total of €940,000 in 2002, when the trading fraud at the bank’s former US subsidiary, Allfirst, was uncovered.

The package makes Mr Buckley, who has been in charge of AIB for more three years one of the highest paid bosses in Ireland. The bank said in February that its profits had risen by just 3% in 2003, though, at €1 billion, it is the most profitable bank in Ireland.