Fingleton's €1m bonus still not paid back
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Wednesday November 18 2009
FORMER Irish Nationwide boss Michael Fingleton has still not repaid a controversial €1m bonus despite promising to do so seven months ago.
The bonus became the subject of controversy last March, because it was paid out after the state banking guarantee was extended to the Irish Nationwide building society.
The Government was unable to force Mr Fingleton (71) to hand back his bonus for 2008, given that the guarantee legislation specified that restrictions on bonuses applied "for the year ahead" (2009).
Wanted
But after Finance Minister Brian Lenihan made it clear he wanted the bonus handed back to Irish Nationwide, Mr Fingleton agreed to do so voluntarily.
An Irish Nationwide source confirmed last night that Mr Fingleton had still not repaid the bonus.
Mr Fingleton, originally from Sligo, retired in April after spending nearly 37 years in charge of Irish Nationwide. He received his 2008 bonus despite the fact that the building society had posting a pre-tax loss of €243m for that year, its first in living memory.
Under his stewardship, Irish Nationwide had become a major player in the commercial property scene but was hit by large loan losses. Around €8bn of its €10.4bn loans are set to be taken over by NAMA.
When he committed to returning the bonus, Mr Fingleton released a statement saying he was entitled to it. But he said he wished to bring the issue to a conclusion "because of the effect on his family with a continuing 24-hour media siege on his home and also because of his concern for the effect it may have on the society".
Mr Fingleton also departed with a pension of €27.6m. He made a rare public appearance at the funeral of former Concern CEO Fr Aengus Finucane in south Dublin last month. He said afterwards that he could still "drop a couple of bombshells" but then claimed this was just a "joke".
- Michael Brennan Political Correspondent
Irish Independent
