Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will repeat our position as a party. We are open minded to the sale of a stake in AIB when the conditions are right. The programme for Government commits that the Government will not sell more than a 25% stake in any institution up to the end of 2018.

We hold a 14% stake in Bank of Ireland and for now that should remain the position. That bank needs to make more progress in terms of treating customers fairly, especially mortgage customers. That is a drum we will keep banging.

Permanent TSB is a bank that is in recovery phase. It has made good progress but it does have major challenges in terms of the very large tracker mortgage book it has. The management there is doing a good job and it is important for the economy that there is as much competition as possible in the Irish banking sector. Competition is very limited and we would like to see new entrants. I hope the Department and the agencies are seeking to bring new entrants into the Irish market. It may not be the most attractive market in the world at this time, especially when banks are downsizing and deleveraging internationally but I hope the Minister's eyes are open to any opportunities that would emerge to bring new entrants into the Irish market to increase competition.

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