The Taoiseach will recall that when the Government introduced the bank guarantee at the end of September 2008, he and the Minister for Finance assured us it would not cost taxpayers anything. Since then we have had to pay €4 billion to Anglo Irish Bank and €7 billion to AIB and Bank of Ireland; on top of this we have the NAMA legislation. Now that the banks have got the money and the NAMA legislation in their back pockets——

Take the money and run.

——the old guard is back to its old ways. It is trying to call the shots. This week we saw that AIB wants to appoint the same person as chairman and chief executive — that is, an executive chairman — to appoint a managing director internally, and to exceed the cap on salaries. The Taoiseach said to Deputy Kenny yesterday that the Government intends to insist on compliance with the cap, which I was glad to hear. However, one newspaper reported this morning that the Minister for Finance went to Cabinet seeking approval for the salary sought by the bank — that is, €633,000. Is this the case? Will the Government allow AIB to appoint the same person as chairman and chief executive, and what level of pay will be approved for that post? Will the Government allow AIB to appoint a managing director internally? Can the Taoiseach tell the House how many executives in the guaranteed banks are paid more than €500,000, which is the salary cap the Government wants to apply?

I do not have the figure sought by the Deputy in his last question; that is a matter to be taken up with the Minister for Finance in a parliamentary question. The cap we introduced was in respect of the appointment of new personnel to the position of CEO or other senior positions. There was no proposal from the Minister for Finance in which the Government was asked to approve a salary greater than the cap that was fixed.

The appointments of Dan O'Connor as executive chairman, Colm Doherty as group managing director and Dr. Michael Somers as deputy chairman will proceed. Mr. Doherty will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the group and he has agreed to take up his new role for a salary of €500,000.

That was good of him. Will he be able to live on it?

I am surprised the Taoiseach does not have more information about whether top people in the banks are paid more than the salary cap. After all, we are now funding and guaranteeing the banks and taking bad loans from them. We are doing everything for them and one would expect the Taoiseach to know whether these people are paying themselves more than the Government wants.

It is none of our business.

For example, the annual report of one bank shows that all bar one of the executive directors are on salaries in excess of the cap and, on top of that, remuneration other than salary is also paid to these people. As a matter of information, can the Taoiseach tell us whether the cap applies just to salary or to the total remuneration package?

Under the counter.

The banks are still calling the shots. The old guard is still in place. If one looks at the boards of directors of the banks, for example, apart from the public interest directors, the directors who are there now were there at the time the collapse happened and the guarantee had to be introduced. In Allied Irish Banks, ten of the ten who are there now were there then. In Bank of Ireland the figure is 11 of 13. We have seen little or no change at the top boards of the banks and they are still calling the shots.

The test as to whether they are calling the shots is not on the salary. The test is whether the Taoiseach will allow this bank to appoint an executive chairman. All we know about corporate governance is that the same person should not be chairman and chief executive. The Grant Thornton report referred specifically to this point about the banks when it reported earlier this year. Allied Irish Banks proposes to do precisely that and appoint an executive chairman. Is the Taoiseach going to permit that? That is the test.

Will the Taoiseach permit these appointments to be made? Who is calling the shots here? Is it the old guard which was there when the problem started and contributed to it? Or will the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance, on behalf of the taxpayer, who is now funding and guaranteeing this operation and taking the bad debts from the bank, call the shots? This is the test.

Deputy Gilmore would know an awful lot more about the old guard than I would.

The Taoiseach knows a lot about it himself.

He brings up the rear guard.

Answer the question.

I will answer the question. Regarding the arrangements put in place at Allied Irish Banks, with the agreement of the Minister for Finance, Mr. Dan O'Connor, currently non-executive chairman, is to take on the role of executive chairman on a temporary basis in order to oversee the bank's work on the completion of the key task of capital raising, the implementation of NAMA and the EU re-structuring plan. Mr. Colm Doherty, formerly the managing director of AIB capital markets has been appointed AIB group managing director and will take up his new role with immediate effect.

So he got a promotion.

Mr. Doherty will be responsible for the day to day running of the bank and has agreed to take up his new role for a salary of €500,000.

Shucks.

In addition, the AIB group chief executive, Mr. Eugene Sheehy, is to retire on 30 November.

Did he get a golden handshake? Or a gold watch?

These appointments are part of a wider series of management changes with the emphasis on attracting new external talent. This will deliver the vital combination of internal and external experience and perspective necessary to ensure——

What is external?

——that AIB's culture, structure and management team is ideally equipped to lead the bank through this critical period.

Is that the bank's statement?

These include Dr. Michael Somers, the chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency, who will be appointed to the AIB board as deputy chairman. He will also chair the AIB board risk committee. Dr. Somers will take up his new post on completion of the regulatory——

Is that the bank's proposal?

That is the bank's press release.

The Taoiseach, without interruption.

Mr. David Pritchard, currently AIB deputy chairman, is to step down from that post. The board wishes to express its thanks to him. He will retain the role of senior independent director.

The key executive functions of group finance director and group chief——

The Taoiseach, without interruptions.

I am bringing to the attention of the House——

I ask Deputies to restrain themselves.

——what is going on here. Decisions have been taken, internal and external appointments will be made. Deputies seem not to want to hear what decisions have been made. The roles of group finance director and group chief risk officer will be filled by external appointment. All of this is happening on the basis that the Government is insisting the bank proceeds in this manner. We have the agreement of the bank that such will be the case.

No.

We proceed in this way. What is most important, apart from all of this, is the fact we need to restructure our banking system. We are also ensuring the guarantee is paid for on an ongoing basis.

Times change, people do not.