A director of Permanent TSB has described as “an egregious breach of court process” a court bid by the bank and a group of directors to prevent any action aimed at disqualifying any of the directors from involvement in the management of a company.

A number of legal challenges brought against the Government’s recapitalisation of Irish Life & Permanent should be struck out because those taking the actions lack the legal standing to do so, lawyers for the Minister for Finance argued yesterday.

A High Court judge has begun a hearing to decide key preliminary issues in actions by a number of shareholders in Irish Life and Permanent and others to the Government’s recapitalisation of the bank.