Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will be aware that Government policy on banking remuneration has remained unchanged since the financial crisis. Extensive restrictions are in place and these are not simply confined to a small number of senior bankers whose pay is restricted by the €500,000 cap. These restrictions affect approximately 23,000 workers across the three banks in which the State has a shareholding. The policy dictates that variable pay, including bonuses and any other benefits such as health insurance and childcare, cannot be paid to any staff members from the most junior, lowest paid staff to, of course, the most senior ranks.

The previous Government reviewed this issue. Stakeholders engaged with included the major institutional investors in the banks, advisory firms, the Financial Services Union, the chairs of the remuneration committee in each of the banks, the Central Bank of Ireland and representatives of the Single Supervisory Mechanism. I acknowledge there is a very different environment in place now from a regulation point of view, which will help prevent the return to some of the excesses of the boom years.

Furthermore, the powers of the Central Bank were significantly enhanced by the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013, in particular powers to take action against wrongdoing by financial services providers and to strengthen the ability of the Central Bank to take action against individuals.

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