Anglo to give staff rises ahead of €15bn losses

ANGLO Irish Bank, which is expected to announce record-breaking losses of up to €15bn, has approved pay rises for key staff.

Forty staff in this country, 20 in Britain and 10 in the US-based operations of the scandal-ridden bank are expected to benefit from what have been termed “not insubstantial” pay hikes.

The bank is reported to have said increased pay will be awarded to staff whose roles and responsibilities have dramatically changed since a voluntary redundancies programme was introduced in the wake of the Government taking control of the disgraced lender.

The bank, now fully owned by the taxpayer, is expected to announce the biggest ever trading losses in Irish corporate history and could, according to some analysts, be as high as €15bn.

Last night, speaking on RTÉ’s Prime Time, newly appointed Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs Pat Carey said the important work under way at the bank would not be possible without specialist staff in valuation and financial management and it was in order to maintain those key roles that pay rises were being awarded.

Joan Burton of the Labour Party said she could not understand the logic of awarding pay increases to staff working in “the bank which has bankrupted this generation and quite probably the next generation as well”.

Pat Rabbitte said “sometimes in Irish politics you have to pinch yourself in order to believe what is happening”. He questioned how people on low pay and social welfare support were expected to take cuts while this was going on in Anglo Irish Bank.

The bank has loans of about €100bn on its balance sheet.

Last week, Sean FitzPatrick, the former chairman and chief executive of Anglo, was arrested and questioned for 24 hours about alleged financial irregularities. Gardaí are expected to conduct further investigations before preparing a file for the DPP.