Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 April 2014
25. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the principles he will follow when deciding on the voting position on the issue of bankers’ remuneration at the annual general meetings of banks in which the State is a shareholder. [16064/14]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware the Review of Remuneration Practices & Frameworks at the Covered Institutions (the "Mercer Report") was published by my Department on 12th March 2013. Following the publication I requested that the three banks in which the State is a shareholder make total remuneration cost savings of 6% to 10%. The three banks responded with their individual strategies, designed to achieve the required savings, by the due date of 30 April as requested. I was not prescriptive in how this was to be achieved respecting their differing State ownership and investment and paths to profitability. I reviewed the plans submitted and in light of the various industrial relations developments during 2013 I was satisfied that the banks' plans would meet my direction.
It is worth noting in this context that in their respective 2013 annual results, AIB reported a 16% year-on-year decline in costs while ptsb reported a 13% decline in staff costs. Including a one-off pension related gain of c€400m, Bank of Ireland's total costs reduced by 28% year-on-year. Despite this momentum it is imperative that all the banks make every effort to hold down costs in the coming years and particularly staff related costs which form the lion's share of total costs. As the Deputy will be aware I recently signalled that I will not approve of any return to bonus schemes at these banks as this would not be appropriate at this time.
With respect to the forthcoming shareholder meetings, only Bank of Ireland has issued the documentation for its Annual General Court to be held on April 25th. My Department will fully peruse all the documentation before deciding the appropriate vote for each of the resolutions and, as always, will vote in the best interest of the State and to maximise the return to the taxpayer. In the case of AIB and PTSB my department has yet to receive notification of the resolutions for their annual general meetings.
