Bankers are calling for a half million euro cap on salaries to be lifted.
A new report from BPFI (Banking and Payments Federation Ireland) claims that the cap is damaging the industry and preventing the banks from hiring proper “talent.”
However, the call is sure to anger voters who had to pay for the bailout through austerity measures and increased taxes every week.
The Government has put a salary limit of €500,000 as the maximum amount any Irish banker who works in a bailed-out bank can earn.
And there is a punitive tax of a whopping 89% on any bonuses - which has wiped out the payment of them.
However, bankers are now arguing that they need the restrictions to be lifted so they can hire better staff, especially in the IT sector.
Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said: “The Irish retail banking sector employs 22,000 people, and the wider banking sector contributes €1.6 billion directly to the Exchequer, and a further €11.6 billion to the economy each year.
“In addition to its key role in underpinning the economy, retail banks hold €270 billion in deposits for Irish households and businesses and provide loans totalling €152 billion, including over 822,500 mortgages to homeowners in Ireland.
“The sector is extremely important to the Irish economy and will play a critical role in future economic growth and development as we exit from the Covid pandemic.
“For this reason, it is vital that we properly understand the challenges the sector faces and how we can best address them over the coming period.
“This report provides a comprehensive fact-based assessment of the complex range of issues impacting on the Irish retail banking sector and the factors that will determine its future direction and the journey of transformation that is now well underway.
“It is the first major assessment of Ireland’s retail banking landscape since the financial crisis, and underlines how much banking has changed – in Ireland and across Europe – since that time.
“There are some considerable challenges for Ireland’s retail banks, but the changing landscape also offers opportunities to further pursue diversification, innovation and the sustainable finance agenda, and to play an even more central role in Ireland’s economic and social progress in the coming years.
“I believe this is an important report to reflect on as we debate and consider the future of Irish retail banking.”
