The outlook for the Irish economy is favourable in the short-term but Brexit is still "a big sword of Damocles" for growth, the new KBC Ireland chief executive has said.

The new boss of KBC Bank Ireland has said he is currently “comfortable” with its share of the Irish mortgage market and indicated he has ruled out selling soured mortgages to vulture funds.

The new board set up to improve banking culture is "rigged" in favour of the lenders and not customers, one of the industry's biggest critics has claimed.

TDs and Senators have cast doubt on the effectiveness of the new board set up to improve the behaviour of banks in the wake of the €1bn tracker mortgage scandal.

KBC Bank Ireland got a huge financial boost from rapidly increasing house prices in 2018 but the outlook suggests Irish lenders will have fewer opportunities to tap this year.

Latest: Protesters have now left KBC Ireland's head office after staging an occupation earlier this afternoon.

KBC Ireland said it can remain aloof from other banks selling off loan books for the time being, saying it had reduced its substantial amount of non-performing loans (NPLs) by €1.3bn in the past year by working through its books.

At least 5,000 more customers could be affected by the tracker mortgage fallout, while the final bill could be “well above” €1bn, according to the financial advisor who exposed the scandal, writes Pádraig Hoare.

Another 5,000 cases could be added to the tracker mortgage scandal, according to the financial expert who helped expose the scandal.

By Pádraig Hoare

GDP figures showing the economy is Europe’s fastest growing has the potential to keep up the pace in 2018, despite Brexit headwinds, analysts have predicted.

GDP figures showing the economy is Europe’s fastest growing has the potential to keep up the pace in 2018, despite Brexit headwinds, analysts have predicted.

Here's your lunchtime news bulletin.

Catch up on this morning's headlines...

Up to 10 more customers of Permanent TSB have lost their homes on top of the 22 already known from the fallout of the tracker mortgage scandal, while KBC Ireland had said it has still not contacted many customers wrongly put on more expensive loans.

A new way of measuring the size of the economy has shown the legacy of debt from the crash is much higher than previously estimated, and will likely hem in government spending for years to come.

A new picture of the economy shows it is much smaller and the country’s debt burden is much heavier but also suggests that the domestic economy is powering ahead.

KBC Bank Ireland which is positioning itself as a “challenger bank” to the main mortgage lenders has signalled that cuts to its fixed rate mortgages are likely coming to an end.

SuperValu kept its lead in the supermarket wars over the key Easter period when shoppers spent €2.4bn on groceries despite a big sales surge by rival Dunnes, according to the latest snapshot of Irish grocers.

The chief executive of KBC Ireland said that the road is probably narrowing for the prospects of further reductions in home loans.

KBC Bank Ireland will not be sanctioned by the Central Bank for erroneously printing an incorrect interest rate on customer statements.

Political uncertainty in the run-up to the formation of the new minority Government dented confidence in the economy and caused a slowdown in the pace of economic growth, new research suggests.

KBC Bank Ireland is attracting new business with its low mortgage rates and will compete with any new mortgage entrants on price, its chief executive has vowed.

A drop in positivity on household finances led to a marginal dip in consumer mood in February, but it wasn’t enough to signify any major loss of confidence, according to a survey.

Consumer confidence reached a 15-year high, last month, but positivity surrounding the jobs market has taken a dent.

KBC Bank Ireland has reported a profit after tax and impairment costs of €18m and increased its share of the mortgage market to 15% in the second quarter of the year.

The Dublin region will see substantial growth rates in the coming years –matching the economic surge of the ‘pre-bubble Celtic Tiger’ era, but leading economists are struggling to find a new moniker for this new and milder economic beast —with suggestions so far including ‘the Celtic Wolfhound’ and ‘the Celtic Kitten’.

Leading Irish economists are considering increasing their growth forecasts later this month, as the recovery enters a new phase that looks more like the early “virtuous” years of the Celtic Tiger before the economy ballooned 12 years ago.

The number of households in arrears on mortgage payments on their homes has fallen by almost one third in less than two years, according to the latest data from the Department of Finance.

Bank of Ireland has taken its first step to comply with Government demands to lower mortgage rates — by cutting a range of fixed-term home loan rates only, but experts say that the Irish lenders continue to charge among the priciest variable rates in Europe.

KBC Bank Ireland has posted its first quarterly net profit since the height of the financial crisis here, and has made a robust defence against critics who accuse Irish lenders of charging customers too much for their mortgage home loans.

Here’s a run down of today’s business headlines.

KBC Bank Ireland lost €91m last year as impairment costs continued to weigh on its financial performance.

There was a total of 45,276 mortgages in arrears by more than 90 days not restructured by the end of November, according to the Department of Finance.

KBC Ireland remains confident of turning a profit by 2016 despite reporting a second-quarter loss of €34m after tax and impairment costs yesterday.

The level of increased output and job hiring among firms is not yet significant enough to suggest the economy has moved to a "notably faster growth trajectory", according to a new survey.