George Hook of Newstalk Radio asked Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan how it was that in the UK bankers like Fred Goodwin of RBS were not allowed to hold on to lucrative retirement packages while failed Irish bankers walked away with millions.
Lenihan’s response was a classic make it up as you go along explanation.
I don’t know about Fred Goodwin’s case, he mustn’t have had a firm contractual position or they wouldn’t have been able to rescind it.
When the Government took control of the banks Mr. Goodwin didn’t have a finalised package.
A lot of these gentlemen have finalised packages in Ireland which were written into their contracts long before the guarantee… I’m faced with a legal brick wall.
So, Lenihan starts off by saying he knows nothing about Goodwin’s case. He then immediately contradicts himself by stating that Goodwin made himself vulnerable by not having a finalised package.
Irish bankers on the other hand, according to Lenihan, were clever in making sure they had watertight contracts and as a result he was up against a legal brick wall in regard to taking action against them.