Just say ‘no’: Bankers’ €500,000 pay cap

Bankers’ €500,000 pay capOne of the least attractive characteristics of today’s Ireland is the widespread sense of entitlement. Give-us-a-reason-to-come-home nurses and beef farmers protesting over a yet unfinalised deal that will have huge benefits to the majority of Irish people are just two recent examples.

One of the least attractive characteristics of today’s Ireland is the widespread sense of entitlement. Give-us-a-reason-to-come-home nurses and beef farmers protesting over a yet unfinalised deal that will have huge benefits to the majority of Irish people are just two recent examples.

The ongoing and shabby palaver over bankers’ pay is another. It is, therefore, reassuring that junior finance minister Michael D’Arcy has drawn a line in the sand and insisted that the €500,000 pay cap should be retained — despite inevitable because-we’re-worth-it, self-interested pressure from banks — the very banks that will pay no corporation tax on their profits for many years. Most of politics are subjective and nuanced, we can all argue about responses to climate change, health provision or housing but this issue is clearcut. There is no grey area. The Government cannot concede. US President Trump, though in a very different context, offers a valuable principle: “if they don’t like it here they can always go...” Bankers might be surprised at how widely and strongly that view is held.