Public interest directors at PTSB not to seek re-election

The two public interestdirectors in Permanent TSB have announced that they will not be seeking re-election to the board.

The directors, Margaret Hayes and former finance minister Ray MacSharry, who were appointed by former finance minister Brian Lenihan, informed the board of Permanent TSB yesterday that they would not be seeking re-election at the bank’s forthcoming annual general meeting.

The announcement came two days after the state-controlled bank reported that its pre-tax losses for 2012 had more than doubled from €424m in 2011 to €999m last year.

The chairman of the PTSB board, Alan Cook, praised the two directors for their contributions to the board since they were appointed in Dec 2008.

“Both Margaret and Ray have been valued colleagues and have made enormous contributions to the board during their respective tenures.

“On behalf of my colleagues, I want to express our appreciation to both of them for their work on the board and we wish them every success in the years ahead.”

However, following an appearance at the Oireachtas finance committee where Mr MacSharry ruled out any debt forgiveness he was heavily criticised for being “out of touch” and “going native”.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said: “I do believe that he was seriously out of touch with the manner in which financial institutions have to deal with this matter.”

It also emerged during the finance committee hearing that there was no reporting mechanism in place for the public interest directors to report to the department of finance.

Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Micheal McGrath said the role of public interest directors needed to be reformed.

“As it stands there is nothing distinctive about the role of public interest directors. A reporting mechanism needs to be put in place so that the minister of finance can be assured that they are fulfilling their role,” he said.