The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has confirmed he has received a formal request from AIB in the past few days seeking permission to appoint a new Chief Executive with a salary in excess of the €500,000 cap imposed by the previous Government.
In response to a Dáil question from Fianna Fáil Finance spokesperson Michael McGrath, Mr Noonan said he is examining the bank’s request.
He said the salary cap remains Government policy and AIB would have to make a particularly special case for that to change.
Mr Noonan added the salary cap was already more than twice the salary of the Taoiseach and he believed it is a reasonable limit.
Mr McGrath said in his view, the salary cap remains appropriate and should be honoured.
"I believe that such a salary should be sufficiently generous to attract a top-calibre new Chief Executive for the bank," he said.
"AIB is a bank which is 99.8% owned by the Irish Government, on behalf of the Irish people."
