State’s receipts from bank activities near €13bn-mark

The State has received over €12.74bn from all bank-related levies, investment income and disposal of investments since the bank guarantee of 2008.

That is according to Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, who yesterday confirmed that between April 2010 and May 2015, the State received €6.58bn from the disposal of investments by the banks covered by the guarantee; namely Bank of Ireland, AIB and Permanent TSB.

In addition, Mr Noonan confirmed that the State has received €6.16bn in income, fees and the bank levy from the banking sector since 2008.

However, the €12.74bn income generated from the bank industry here is a fraction of the €64bn that taxpayers were forced to pledge to rescue the nation’s banks after the biggest property crash in western Europe.

In his detailed written Dáil response to Labour deputy Joanna Tuffy, Mr Noonan said that the Government has raised €4.65bn from Bank of Ireland through the disposal of investments.

In addition, the Government has received €1.88bn from the sale of Permanent TSB disposals — including €1.34bn from the sale of Irish Life — while the State raised €50m from the cancellation of AIB preference share warrants.

The State received €154m from the introduction of the bank levy in Budget 2014; with €130m received from AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB.

Mr Noonan confirmed that €4.4bn of the €6.16bn came from payments by banks under the Eligible Liabilities Guarantee scheme (ELG) in relation to the bank guarantee.

In a separate Dáil reply on the banks to Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath, Mr Noonan said: “My overall objective, in relation to the State’s investment in the banks, is to maximise the return to the Irish taxpayer over time.”

The State has invested €20.8m in AIB and Mr Noonan said his department is working with the bank on reconfiguring the capital structure and looking at a range of options available to recoup value from the bank.

He said: “All options remain on the table and it is too early to specify what steps will be taken next, or indeed to put a timeline on decisions.”