Bank of Ireland chief executive Brian Goggin saw his total remuneration increase 58 per cent to almost €4 million in the year to the end of March, a period when the bank's pretax profits jumped 28 per cent to a record €1.96 billion.

Mr Goggin's total pay package was boosted by a performance bonus of €2 million, which according to the company's annual report, is based on the achievement of personal objectives as well as overall group performance. His basic salary was €1.1 million.

During the year he was awarded 78,500 share options exercisable at a price of €14, behind yesterday's closing share price of almost €16. As of the end of March he had a total of 368,000 options exercisable at a variety of prices starting from €8.93.

Chief financial officer John O'Donovan was the second-highest paid executive, though at €1.6 million his total remuneration was significantly behind that taken home by Mr Goggin. Mr O'Donovan's basic salary was €500,000, while his performance-related bonus came in at €593,000. At the end of March he held 178,000 options.

Elsewhere businessman Denis O'Brien, who resigned as deputy governor of the bank in September, was paid €72,000, while the governor Richard Burrows received €483,000 for the full year.

Bank of Ireland yesterday also proposed that three new non-executive directors: Rose Hynes, director of, among other groups, Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank; Jerome Kennedy of Bank of Ireland Life Holdings; and Heather Ann McSharry, general manager of Reckitt Benckiser in Ireland, be elected to the board.

Their election will be voted on at the bank's agm on July 17th when two current members of the nine-strong non-executive team will retire from the board.