Irish banks among EU’s wealthiest

IRISH banks are among the top-third most profitable in the EU, despite claims by Irish financial institutions that the public perception of the banking sector here is “misleading and inaccurate.”

The Irish Bankers Federation (IBF) has today challenged critics of bank charges by arguing they compare favourably to many other EU countries.

IBF director general Jim Bardon said statistics contained in a new publication, Irish Banking Fact File, "make nonsense" of claims that Irish banks are the most profitable in Europe.