Fingleton 'Fails To Repay Loan', Claim Labour

The Labour Party has 'blown the whistle' on the former boss of an Irish bank who has allegedly failed to pay back a €1 million bonus, months after promising to do so.

Joan Burton, the Labour party's spokesperson on Finance, said the former Chief Executive of the Irish Nationwide, Michael Fingleton, has failed to repay a €1m bonus, which he received after the bank he was responsible for was bailed out by taxpayers money.

Ms Buton said: "The payment of a €1m bonus to Mr. Fingleton in the same year that the Nationwide was a beneficiary of the government's €440bn bank guarantee scheme was an outrage and should never have happened."

The Labour spokesperson went on to say that when the disclosure of the payment emerged earlier this year, it was public and media pressure, rather than any action on the part of the government, that shamed Mr Fingleton into promising to repay the bonus.

However, despite the promises made by government ministers, Ms Burton claimed there had been "little real regime change" in most of the financial institutions who had benefited from the bank guarantee scheme.

Mr Fingleton retired as Irish Nationwide chief executive in April in the wake of public outcry over the bonus. He also had a pension plan worth €27m at the time.

So far Mr Fingleton has not returned the money despite public assurances he would. RTÉ revealed today that the former chief executive has requested to first see a report about his remuneration prepared for the board of Irish Nationwide before making the payment.

(DW/BMcC)