Irish banks are, of course, less generous than they used to be. Bonuses are non-existent, salaries have been frozen for years and new recruits are paid less than the previous incumbents of the role. But do Irish bankers really care?

At the top end of the scale, NTMA chief Michael Somers argued that the government pay cap of €500k is hindering the search for a new chief executive at AIB. The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, has since conceded that the bank may be allowed to pay more.

Lower down the ranks, Ireland’s bankers also have the option of moving overseas if they don’t want to accept a newly-reduced package. Many already have, but those sticking around and securing the (limited) opportunities within Irish banks are generally accepting that pay is on a downward keel.

“The general rule is that when banks are replacing someone, they’re offering 10-15% less than they would have paid the person who left,” says Greg O’Hanlon, partner at GHI Consulting. “I recently placed a business originator for corporate and institutional banking for €150k, whereas colleagues already in a similar role were on €180k.”

If you don’t want to see salary depreciation, the simple solution it would seem is to stay put. Unfortunately, with the amount of redundancies in the sector in recent years, this is not an option for a lot of bankers.

In any case, despite the widespread perception of greedy bankers in Ireland, most people accepting a new role are looking to the long term. Money is no longer a key motivator, with most people taking a role within a domestic institution to “get their career back on track”, says Eoin Blake, director at Irish headhunters Lincoln Search & Selection.

“Bonuses are no longer a concern, with many bankers taking a role assuming they could be back on the cards only in years to come,” he says. “Promotions haven’t been forthcoming for a long time, and by taking a new role people are looking to get their career back on track. It’s now about the position, not the money.”

Desperation might be the wrong word to use, but many out of work bankers are simply thinking about getting back in the market rather than what they can earn.

“Some people we’ve placed have been unemployed for over a year,” says O’Hanlon. “In these cases taking a pay cut doesn’t seem like such a hardship.”