The Department of Finance is to pay a consultancy firm €144,000 to advise on whether a €500,000 pay cap for the executives of bailed-out banks should be lifted.

The right to private property is one of the tenets of a civilised society and when bankrupt governments begin to impinge upon that sacred right, it is safe to assume that society as we know it is entering a season of decay and decline.

Permanent TSB will this week announce plans to raise up to €550m from private investors.