Irish Life & Permanent freezes managers' pay

DUBLIN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Bank and insurance group Irish Life & Permanent will cancel the bonuses for 160 senior managers and keep all managers' pay at 2008 levels this year due to a deepening recession, it said on Monday.
Senior managers, including the three executive directors who received 1.4 million euros ($1.82 million) of bonuses between the three of them in 2007, will not get any for 2008 due to "challenges facing the business and the broader economy".
"For all other staff, any bonuses due for 2008 will be cut by 75 percent," Irish Life & Permanent said in a statement.
The group's chairman received 288,000 euros last year, having waived her entitlement to some of her full compensation of 420,000 euros, it said.
Prime Minister Brian Cowen said last week directors at Ireland's two main banks -- Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks -- should face a sharp drop in pay in return for a multi-billion euro government bailout.
Cowen said new executives hired to work at banks receiving state funds should face at least a 25 percent cut on current remuneration levels and their salaries should be capped at that level.
Irish Life & Permanent is not expected to receive a bailout but it is participating in Ireland's 440 billion euro state guarantee scheme for bank liabilities, which also gives the cabinet influence over the banks.
"Since the guarantee scheme was introduced we have the ability as government ... to look at all areas of remuneration in the banking sector for those institutions that are covered by the guarantee," Cowen told public broadcaster RTE.
Irish Life & Permanent said it had taken the decisions on pay on its own initiative but added it would continue to work with the government-appointed Group on Senior Executive Pay in the banking sector.