Lenihan seeks meeting with Fingleton

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan will summon Irish Nationwide boss Michael Fingleton into his offices this week amid Green Party calls for the banker to resign following revelations of a €1m bonus payment.

The chief executive pocketed the reward just weeks after the Government was forced to step in to guarantee the institution's deposits and borrowings during turmoil in international financial markets in September.

A Government body, set up to regulate bankers' pay, also recommended that no bank bonuses be paid for 2008.

Environment Minister and Green Party leader John Gormley today insisted Mr Fingleton's position is untenable and he should resign immediately.

Mr Lenihan is due to meet Mr Fingleton and senior Irish Nationwide executives in his Department of Finance offices later this week to discuss the issue.

Irish Nationwide today insisted that the bonus was agreed by its board before the state guarantee scheme came into force.

The bank also confirmed that the institution had paid a total of €3.5m into a pension scheme personally administered by Mr Fingleton over several years - and it rejected speculation of higher payments.

But Mr Gormley said today: "The position of Mr Fingleton, as far as I am concerned, is untenable."

"It is totally inappropriate. It sends out the wrong signal at a time when people are feeling real pain all over this country and we have those bankers who are living in a parallel universe."

Mr Gormley also called on the Executive to return the €1m bonus payment.

Communications Minister Eamon Ryan added: "We cannot let individuals away with it, if they have done such reputational damage."

"I'm not going to go out and take a particular line on a particular individual."

Mr Gormley said the Green Party had called for people in the past to resign and they had resigned.

"I believe Mr Fingleton's position is now untenable under the current circumstances. What more can I say, I can't make it any more clearer than that, can I?"

Last October, Irish Nationwide was fined €500,000 by the Financial Regulator after Mr Fingleton's son sent an email inviting deposits into the bank in the wake of the state guarantee scheme.