The former head of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), Michael Somers, who helped set up the agency during the crisis of the late 1980s, said the banks could do much more during the Covid-19 crisis.

A quarter of a billion euro has been paid to Irish tracker mortgage holders who were done out of low-cost interest rates by banks, says Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe.

A state group set up to protect public funds was kept out of the room on guarantee night despite being completely opposed to a blanket bank protection and warning Anglo was “an accident waiting to happen” for over a year.

Former taoiseach Brian Cowen is expected this week to back previous suggestions that Ireland was “bounced” into a bailout.

A state body specifically tasked with giving technical financial advice to the Government was locked out of discussions with ministers on the night of the bank guarantee, and had just “90 seconds” to raise concerns.

NTMA retirees receive more in their annual pension payments than over 70% of staff receive in their salaries.

It is believed that outgoing AIB chief financial officer Paul Stanley will become the next finance chief at Ulster Bank.

FORMER Taoiseach John Bruton keeps grabbing the headlines. Two weeks ago, on this page, I deplored his intervention into the abortion debate, one that could have caused unnecessary difficulty for Enda Kenny, the first Fine Gael leader to follow Bruton as Taoiseach.

Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has ruled out removing the Government’s €500,000 pay cap on bankers’ salaries.

THE ding-dong between the media and politics has been going on for nearly three weeks now, since Pat Rabbitte asked the question on Newstalk, “Where is this constant denigration of politics leading to?”

Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher is the right man for the job, according to its public interest directors, Joe Walsh and Tom Considine.

Former Tánaiste Dick Spring defended his €1,000-a-day fee as a public interest director at AIB, claiming it was “reasonable for the effort” he put into it.

Former Tánaiste Dick Spring, who represents the taxpayer on the board of AIB, has defended his salary as "reasonable".

Public interest directors on the boards of bailed-out banks have been summoned to the Oireachtas finance committee.

Public interest directors on the boards of bailed-out banks have been summoned to the Oireachtas finance committee, it was confirmed today.

Public interest directors in bailed-out banks are to be hauled before the Oireachtas finance committee to explain their duties and roles, amid criticism of lenders.

Public interest directors on the boards of bailed-out banks have earned over €1m since being appointed but have never met or communicated with the finance minister about their roles.

A public appetite for a warts-and-all banking inquiry is growing.

The Author of the Bord Snip Nua report has said it is "inevitable" that Ireland will need a second bailout.

Ireland will probably need another European bailout according to the former chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency, Michael Somers.

The former CEO of the National Treasury Management Agency Michael Somers has said Ireland will probably need another bailout.

The NTMA’s successful bond swap this week will have done the country’s image no harm at a time when agency boss John Corrigan is helping Ireland claw its way back to a form of international market respectability, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

OAK forestry owners can earn up to €60 per cubic metre and protect the health and long-term value of their mature trees by thinning their crop now and selling the product for firewood, according to Teagasc forestry advisor Michael Somers.

A man who was one of a group of three that slashed 128 tyres because of “some sort of complaint they had about capitalism” has been given a suspended sentence.

SATURDAY

DERMOT McCARTHY is around long enough to know that this week’s controversy about the extraordinary pension and pay-off he received in July will pass.

AIB has approached some candidates to take on the role of chief executive but they turned down an offer due to pay.

AIB does not have a chief executive, yet last night announced the blueprint for its new banking structure that reduces its two coredivisions serving Ireland and Britain.

The former chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has said homeowners could be facing the prospect of having to pass on their debts to their children.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore has denied that a change to the country's corporation tax rate is Ireland’s only bargaining chip when it comes to renegotiating the EU/IMF bailout.

The former head of the NTMA says Ireland should "bare our teeth" to Europe at a crucial economic summit next month.

The former chief executive of the NTMA has said he was taken aback by the IMF's arrival in Ireland and Ireland's subsequent bailout.

Tánaiste Mary Coughlan has said that Taoiseach Brian Cowen will make an announcement on his future as leader of Fianna Fáil later this evening.

Pressure will mount on Taoiseach Brian Cowen today to indicate whether he is to step down as leader of Fianna Fail.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen continued to consult with Fianna Fáil colleagues tonight in an effort to gauge whether he has enough support to lead the party into an election.

BRIAN Cowen’s future hung in the balance last night as he decided whether he had enough support to survive as Taoiseach while the threat of rebellion continued to grip Fianna Fáil.

FORMER NTMA boss Michael Somers has insisted Brian Cowen did not direct him to deposit large volumes of money with Anglo Irish Bank in a bid to shore up the troubled bank prior to its collapse.

A no confidence vote in the Government was blocked tonight as Taoiseach Brian Cowen fought off questions over his leadership.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen today denied claims that he asked the State’s money men to deposit sovereign funds in Anglo-Irish Bank in the months before it collapsed.

The former chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency has said he will not give up his €200,000 bonus.

Every week there seems to be a sensational disclosure that calls the judgment of political leaders into question.

SENIOR members of the Fine Gael front bench are at odds as to whether bonuses for state employees worth hundreds of thousands of euro should be abolished if the party comes to power.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen denied today that civil servants were getting bonuses despite salary top-ups to reward “exceptional merit”.

THE former head of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has described as “cosy” his relationship with the Financial Regulator.

THE daily dosages have been administered since February. At times the strength and vigour has been pumped up.

ECONOMIST David McWilliams has launched a stinging attack on the pay and pension received by former National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) boss Michael Somers, saying “a monkey” could have done his job.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is to put his party on a General Election footing later today.