Public interest directors say they were never given any guidelines by minister

The two Government-appointed directors at Bank of Ireland have had no formal contact with the Minister for Finance, his department or the Central Bank since taking up their positions on the board nearly four years ago, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

Former minister for agriculture Joe Walsh and former senior civil servant Tom Considine were appointed to the board of the bailed-out bank in January 2009 at the behest of then minister for finance Brian Lenihan to represent the taxpayer.

However, they told the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform yesterday that at the time of their appointments they were never given any terms of reference regarding their postings.

They also said that no formal structures for reporting issues regarding the bank to the Minister or anyone else in the department or the Central Bank had ever been put in place.

Both men defended their roles as directors in the 15 per cent State-owned bank, saying they had promoted the public interest at all times, and had spearheaded changes in areas of corporate governance at the bank.

Arrears

On the issue of mortgage arrears, Mr Walsh said the bank was offering mortgage restructuring options to between 400 and 500 customers per week

He said more than 700 staff across the group were now involved in the management of mortgage arrears.

The bank, which controls about 20 per cent of the Irish mortgage market, had restructured 16,000 mortgages and over 86 per cent of customers whose mortgages had been restructured were meeting their contracted payments, Mr Walsh said.

“Bank of Ireland has mobilised very significantly around the management of mortgage arrears.”

Mr Considine said that in September 2008 the State was guaranteeing €136 billion of liabilities at the bank and that this had fallen to €26 billion as of last month.

He said peak losses at the bank were not reached until 2010, when it recorded an underlying loss of €3.5 billion.

In tetchy exchanges with committee chairman Ciarán Lynch, both men were repeatedly asked what their positions were on the issue of debt relief for distressed mortgage holders and whether they agreed with Bank of Ireland boss Richie Boucher, who has ruled out debt forgiveness.

Insolvency

Mr Walsh said the bank wouldcomply with the provisions of the personal insolvency legislation. “If that means that when all avenues have been exhausted in terms of people in distressed mortgages and the loan is irrecoverable . . . well then down in my side of the country they say you can’t knock blood out of a turnip and that has to be the case.”

Mr Considine said he agreed that debt could be written down as part of the final solution to chronically distressed loans.

Mr Walsh, who sits on the bank’s remuneration committee, was also criticised by Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty for overseeing some €66 million in bonuses paid to senior staff while the bank was in receipt of a bailout.

Mr Walsh said he had been paid €80,000 in 2009, €79,000 in 2010 and 2011 and €89,000 in 2012.

Mr Considine said he was paid €79,000 in 2009, €90,000 in 2010 and 2011 and €97,650 this year.

Both men are among the highest paid public interest directors in the Irish banking system.

Public interest directors. Who they are... and what they earn:

AIB

Dick Spring

The former tánaiste and former leader of the Labour Party has been a public interest director at AIB since 2009. Between 2009 and 2011 he was paid €132,000 in fees.

Declan Collier

The former chief executive of the Dublin Airport Authority was a director between 2009 and June this year. He was paid €140,000 in fees up to the end of 2011.

IBRC

Alan Dukes

The former Fine Gael minister for finance is in a slightly different position as he is chairman of the former Anglo Irish Bank and has played an executive role. He was paid €102,000 in 2009, €127,000 in 2010 and €150,000 in 2011. In 2012 said he would accept a fee of €112,500, some €100,000 less than the fee agreed by the board.

EBS

Anthony Spollen

A former head of group audit at AIB who now works as an internal audit consultant. He was paid fees of €81,000 between 2009 and 2011.

Ann Riordan

The founding head of Microsoft Ireland in 1990 before retiring in 2001.

Over the same three-year period she received fees of €82,000 as director.

Bank of Ireland

Joe Walsh

The former Fianna Fáil minister for agriculture Joe Walsh received fees of €238,000 between 2009 and 2011.

Tom Considine

He is a former secretary general of the Department of Finance. He was paid a total of €259,000 in the three years between 2009 and 2011.

Permanent TSB

Margaret Hayes

Former secretary general of the Department of Tourism and Trade, now a barrister. Also a director of Tourism Ireland. Paid €205,000 in fees between 2009 and 2011.

Ray MacSharry

A former EU commissioner and Fianna Fáil minister for finance. Told a Dáil committee the bank would not forgive debt. Paid €181,000 in fees between 2009 and 2011.