AIB Chairman David Hodgkinson has said a shortlist of people had been drawn up by all members of the board for the position of the new chief executive of the bank.
Speaking at the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform this afternoon Mr Hodgkinson said the the executive search has been underway for some months.
He said that the bank at looked at candidates on a global basis and had come up with 250 names. He said the names had been shortlisted and these people had been interviewed by all members of the board. They have also met the Financial Regulator and they are engaging with the Department of Finance.
He said the process had not been an easy one, but added that they had some good candidates.
The AIB Chairman said he can not be sure that in every case the CEO candidates would agree to abide by the salary levels set previously at €500,000.
But he said that they were confident that the salary would be within the Covered Institutions Remuneration Oversight Committee recommended salary range. Last February, this committee recommended the AIB chief executive salary should be capped at about €690,000.
AIB trying to keep people in their own homes
Mr Hodgkinson also told the committee today that the bank has written off debts in a handful of cases. He said that the bank has repossessed fewer than 20 houses.
He said that in all cases - where these were owner-occupier homes - they had been voluntarily handed over to the bank.
The AIB Chairman also said that 5,000 customers had had an amelioration of terms to help them deal with their mortgage debts.
He said the most frequent options was using interest-only mortgages with customers. But he said that this was only a temporary measure.
He said that he would like to see the Department of Finance's proposals in relation to longer term solutions. He added that AIB was trying to keep people in their homes.
The Head of Mortgages at AIB, Jim O'Keefe, said that 54% of their book is a tracker book.
Boucher says he intends to remain on as BoI boss
Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher has said he plans to remain on as head of the bank.
Asked at the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform today whether he should tender his resignation, he said it was a matter of record that he had held a senior position in Bank of Ireland. He said that he has stood before the shareholders - and had been re-elected.
Mr Boucher said there are four members of the board who were in place in September 2008 and currently serve on the board.
He said that with regards to his own position he had to do a job. His job was to continue to restructure the bank and reduce the risk to the tax payer, he stated.
The head of mortgages at Bank of Ireland, Linda Carraghar, said the bank was pro-active in identifying and working with customers who anticipate difficulties with their mortgages.
She said 3,900 owner-occupiers have had their mortgage payments modified and that 95% of those are at least meeting interest only payments. She said 90% of those who had had their mortgage modified have returned to full payments.
She said by keeping in close contact with the customer and the bank they are all in a better place to deal with the situation. Asked if the bank had its own policy on writing off debt, she said it deals with each customer on a case by case basis.
She said Bank of Ireland's policy does not include the write-off of mortgage debt at this stage.
