THE €75bn GAMBLE

THE bank bailout could cost taxpayers a staggering €75 billion – and Anglo Irish Bank alone could account for €40bn of it.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen promised last year to write whatever cheques were necessary to rescue the banks – and the huge cost of meeting that promise became clear yesterday. Shortly after the markets closed, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan rose to his feet and informed a hushed Dáil:

* €8.3bn will be pumped into Anglo this week, on top of €4bn already injected into the ailing bank.