IL&P boss bemoans cynicism

INDIVIDUAL Irish banks have contributed to an undermining of trust in the Irish banking sector, Irish Life and Permanent group chief executive David Went has acknowledged.

Mr Went warned of the damage being caused by growing cynicism towards the financial services industry in Ireland.

The IL&P boss, speaking at a meeting of the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants in Dublin yesterday, argued that the political and media response to these problems - and the wider response to the profits being secured by financial institutions - had combined to create a “caricature of the industry”.