Bankers’ pay cannot be cut, says Noonan

The Government cannot legally reduce the salaries of bankers who were awarded contracts before it came to power, the Minister for Finance has insisted.

Speaking in Limerick yesterday Michael Noonan claimed reports that bailout money has been used to help fund the pensions of former senior bank staff were “incorrect”.

“The story is incorrect as it is written. This arose from a doorstep last Thursday at the Conrad Hotel. There was 40 or 50 of your colleagues present and the story got a bit of a rewrite in the Sunday Independent this morning.”