Govt wants 10% reduction in bank staff's pay
The Government wants the country's main banks to cut their wage bills by 10% after a new report found that pay rates at Irish banks increased between 2008 and 2012.
The new report by Mercer Consultants examined the rates of pay at the main Irish banks between 2008 - the year the economic crisis hit - and last year.
It found that in the four-year period, the average salaries for bank workers increased. However, it also found that pay levels for top bank bosses lag behind that of their counterparts in large companies.
For workers at lower grades in banks, pay levels were in line with or ahead of staff in other firms.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan said he now wanted AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB to cut salary and pensions costs by 10%, and also wants new working arrangements to deliver savings.
It will be up to individual banks to come up with the specifics of the cost-saving plans.
