Irish Nationwide chief executive Michael Fingleton and his wife Eileen registered a loan against their home and land at Abingdon in Rathmichael in south Dublin in September 2006, when Fingleton was 68 years old.

A further mortgage charge and consolidated loan, from the society itself, was registered with the Registry of Deeds in January of this year.

The Sunday Tribune asked the building society to outline its lending practices to people over the normal retirement age but the society could not do so, as it was preparing the statement about Fingleton's decision to return a €1m bonus paid to him last year.

Meanwhile the Sunday Tribune had also submitted questions relating to Booterstown Wood, a development from Irish Nationwide and developer Brian M Durkan, off the Stillorgan Road in Dublin.

The apartment development was due to be launched in 2007 but this was delayed.

It was then to be launched last autumn but again this was put off. A spring launch is now planned for the apartments, which have been lying empty for several months.

Irish Nationwide has owned the land for several years but title searches showed that a small section of the site was in the ownership of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. It was subsequently purchased by Irish Nationwide for €165,000.

Planning permission had been granted for 48 apartments on the site as far back as 1985 but the scheme was never built.

Irish Nationwide's 2007 annual report showed it owned investment property worth €8.5m, property, plant and equipment worth €146.4m and development property worth €16.4m.

In May 2007 the society completed the sale of its interest in Clearstorm, a property company with assets in London, creating a profit on disposal of €40.5m.

In the past Irish Nationwide's Vernia subsidiary received a €12.7m mortgage from developer Gerry Gannon to acquire land in north Dublin. In a statement released on Friday, Fingleton said: "Because of the effect on his family with a continuing 24-hour media siege on his home and also because of his concern for the effect it may have on the society and his respect for its members whom he has served to the best of his ability for the past 37 years, he has decided to voluntarily return the payment received to the Irish Nationwide".

Additional reporting by Gareth Naughton and Jennifer Bray