Financial system ‘is being damaged’

THE head of the country's fourth largest bank says the country’s reputation as a financial services centre is being damaged by constant criticism of the banking system.

David Went, the chief executive of Irish Life & Permanent, last night likened the comments about Irish banks to that of developing countries.

“With some of the criticisms I hear and read, I wonder whether they’re talking about the unstable banking industry of some third world country or the banking industry at the heart of Europe’s outstanding economy,” Mr Went told the Institute of Bankers last night.