The State could end up paying more for the Irish banks if they fail the stress test next year as the bailout fund, the ESM, is ruling itself out and bailing-in the shareholders has become more acceptable.

Irish Life assurance was born in 1939, when the economy turned and put a hole in the balance sheet of Irish assurance companies.

Since the credit crunch, not too many Irish-owned financial institutions have reported such healthy figures as this life and pensions company, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

Bertie Ahern lied when accounting for more than £215,000 of money lodged to bank accounts connected to him, the tribunal believes.

A re-negotiation of the promissory notes, or IOUs, on bank debt is under way and any deal could also see banks freed from some loss-making mortgages, the finance minister has said.

STRESS tests are set to show Ireland will need to pump another €18 billion into its banks, it emerged last night.

IRELAND will have to wait at least two more weeks to get the cut in interest rate on its EU-IMF loan, but Taoiseach Enda Kenny appeared confident of getting it following his second EU summit.

THE deadline for final bids to be submitted for the EBS Building Society passed yesterday, with Irish Life & Permanent and Cardinal Asset Management understood to be in the final shakeup for the business.

Irish Life & Permanent group treasurer Michael Torpey is to resign and take up a position as head of banking with the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), it was announced today.

FORMER taoiseach Bertie Ahern has denied that he ever owned a foreign bank or building society account.

FORMER taoiseach Bertie Ahern angrily rejected a suggestion that he was wrong to claim last May that the Mahon tribunal had not given him information about sterling lodgments that could have saved his former secretary, Gráinne Carruth, from returning to give evidence.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has admitted that some money lodged to his bank account in 1994 was sterling.

The Taoiseach is reportedly set to make a Dáil statement next week in an effort to dispel growing concern about contradictions in evidence at the Mahon Tribunal.

It was bleak day as all the principal European bourses lost ground following news that the ECB is to raise interest rates 0.25%. The ISEQ Index shed 44.43 to close at 7,602.38.

SHARED Home Investment Plan (SHIP), the equity release company run by Billy Kane, is to float on London’s Alternative Investment Market.

Permanent tsb bank and the IRFU have confirmed that the bank will not be renewing its sponsorship of the Irish team following the expiry of the current agreement at the end of May.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares ended the week on a positive note today, climbing 7.49 to close at 5,407.52.

ROY DOUGLAS will step down as chairman of Irish & Life Permanent early month.

The chairman of Irish Life and Permanent, Mr Roy Douglas, announced his retirement at today’s Annual General Meeting.

The Revenue Commissioners have commenced a campaign to pursue the holders of offshore accounts.

Workers at Permanent-TSB have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action as part of a dispute over pay, holidays and flexible working hours.

THE Revenue Commissioners are to widen their investigation of bogus non-resident accounts by looking into all accounts held by Irish nationals in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

HOUSE prices continued to increase in July but at a much slower level, the latest edition of the permanent tsb House Price Index shows.

The details of the merger between TSB and Irish Permanent have been unveiled.

The Irish Permanent’s latest house price index has revealed that house prices fell by 0.4% in November, their third consecutive monthly decrease.

Mortgage rates are on the way down after the Europoean Central Bank cut interest rates by a quarter of one percent.

House prices rose by 5.9% in the first six months of this year, according to the latest edition of the Irish Permanent House Price Index.

Charles Haughey has rejected the notion that he would divert money from a fund set up to save Brian Lenihan's life.

Irish Permanent has announced a cut of a quarter of one per cent in its variable mortgage rate.

The Irish Life and Permanent acquisition of TSB Bank has been formally completed, in a deal worth £339m.

Irish Life & Permanent says its life business played a key role in raising group product earnings during 2000 by 17% to €266m.