I have a lot of respect for Elderfield, but his suggestion that the cap on bankers salaries be removed is nuts. Greed has fed this monster which has destroyed economies on a global scale, and Elderfield now wants to feed the beast more.
The absence of a pay cap in the past didn't ensure the presence of the required expertise and judgement. If anything, the high salaries seemed to confer delusions of adequacy among those who were getting them.
The notion that the abolition of pay ceilings is now required to ensure the required expertise might equally be regarded as populist nonsense among a certain minority whose true worth has perhaps been exposed and for whom the new order represents and unpalatable reality.
The international norms argument is bogus. We're a small open economy with a small banking infrastructure. Should we necessarily be competing for talent with top international concerns? It's trying to muscle it with the heavyweights that has got us where we are.
The argument for the abolition of pay ceilings could be applied to any part of State supported services. anyone sought to increase the salary of public servants, there would be uproar. Yet again, though, the financial world seems to think they should be regarded as "special" and that exceptions should be made for them.
Unbelievable. For them, humility is something that occurs in the summer.
The banks havent always recruited from within. David Went was an outsider as was Mike Soden. Its not as inbred as you might initially think.
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The banks havent always recruited from within. David Went was an outsider as was Mike Soden. Its not as inbred as you might initially think.
However, I dont agree that the cap should be removed. At the end of the day we are a small country with what should be a small banking system. The notion that we need to compete salarywise with foreign institutions of far greater scale is daft.
At the end of the day, a CEO of a bank needs some knowledge of management practice, risk management, how to read company accounts and common sense. Every year the Smurfit School and other MBA providers in this state produce high caliber candidates for positions like these who would be willing to work within the salary cap.
Salary increase does not equal expertise increase as we have seen in recent years. We need hardworking intelligent people willing to work for an honest days pay and €500k is more than an honest salary.
I have no problem paying a Secretary General of the Department of Finance 1m a year if he can show that he is worth it.
I have.
There have been some exceptional Secretaries General in recent years who have been more than happy to work for less than €250,000 (itself a huge amount of money). Paying anyone a million wouldn't make them more competent.
I don't see any reason why people with equivalent expertise in the area of banking should be paid disproprtionately higher amounts, particulalrly when they're being bankrolled by the State.
Oh horusd,
Then where would all the cowboys and pirates go to play?
ONQ.
2 CEO's from the last 20 years and they replaced both with internal people. Went also came from Ulster Bank so was part of the system. Soden was shafted very early. The top of Irish banking was completely inbred. Just like most boards in financial services companies.
So your problem is with the salary? Well deal with that through taxation if you want. Why put a cap on what someone can earn or what a company can pay someone. What do you think you are achieving?
They were just two I knew off the top of my head, I'm sure there are more if investigated.
Soden wasnt shafted by the way, he fell victim to abusing internet usage policies that he himself implemented. His position was untenable after that.
In principle I am not totally against internal promotion, often internal candidates know where the skeletons are in the closet and are best placed to rectify problems. While its nice to get fresh blood and new ideas, hiring for these positions should be on merit not just based on being an outsider.
The cap will limit the cost to the State. These are effectively semi-state bodies at present, and are therefore under State control. The same rules should apply to them as other semi-state bodies, until they repay their debt to the State.So your problem is with the salary? Well deal with that through taxation if you want. Why put a cap on what someone can earn or what a company can pay someone. What do you think you are achieving?
The cap will limit the cost to the State. These are effectively semi-state bodies at present, and are therefore under State control. The same rules should apply to them as other semi-state bodies, until they repay their debt to the State.
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