Billions wasted on Fingleton’s ‘tadpole’

THE 2009 annual report of Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS) reveals that the Government has thrown €2.7bn of public money into a black hole with no evidence of due diligence and the probability of achieving anything in return being as likely as successfully converting a stagnant sewer into a spa at a wellness centre.

This tadpole will never become a prince.

INBS abandoned the principal purpose of a building society, that of making loans that are secured on residential property and are funded substantially by its members, a long time ago. No one said boo or cared two hoots.

If there had been a scintilla of regulatory oversight, this would not have been tolerated by the Financial Regulator, by Brian Cowen as Minister for Finance or, indeed, by the Department of Finance.

If oversight had been effective, Michael Fingleton would not have been able to pay himself €10m in remuneration from January 1, 2003 until he departed on April 30, 2009, on top of a personal €28m pension fund.

The comments by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan about INBS in the Dáil recently did not inspire confidence that anything will change. Referring to the much cited €1m bonus Fingleton was paid in 2008, she said he had “indicated publicly that he tried to ensure that (repayment) will happen. Everything that can be done will be done to ensure that repayment takes place. It should happen”.

But the annual report indicates this bonus repayment issue is apparently not an urgent priority for Fingleton, as several letters from INBS requesting repayment remain unanswered.

If the court system is not too cluttered dealing with the prosecution of TV licence fee evaders, will the public have long to wait before Mr Fingleton, his former chairman, board members and managers have their day in court to respond to the catastrophic consequences of their decisions and business practices? If there is not to be a day in court it will not be too long before a snake oil salesman emerges to set up a clone of INBS, replete with the knowledge that the Irish taxpayers will be there to pick up after him and that the forces of law and order are dilatory when it comes to swiftly prosecuting corporate malfeasance.

Myles Duffy

Bellevue Avenue

Glenageary

Co Dublin