(BKIR.L) Bank of Ireland (Governor & Co of) Buy/Sell

DUBLIN, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The European Commission has approved Ireland's revised guarantee scheme for bank liabilities of upto five years in duration, Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Friday.
Lenihan said the new scheme would be more targeted than the current scheme introduced in 2008 for lenders including Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland and Irish Life & Permanent, and which runs out in September 2010.

"It will apply to certain liabilities (including deposits) incurred by participating institutions during the period upto 29 September 2010," Lenihan said in a statement. "Dated subordinated debt and asset covered securities will not be guaranteed under the scheme."
Lenihan had already indicated he was mulling a new guarantee which would cover maturities of up to 5 years but only for liabilities incurred in an "issuance window" closing at the end of next September.
(Reporting by Andras Gergely) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/EU

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 19 (Reuters) - New Irish central bank Governor Patrick Honohan opposes the government's policy of imposing a cap on top banking executives' pay, he was quoted by a newspaper on Thursday as saying.
Pressured by voters' anger with banks for contributing to the rapid fall from the 'Celtic Tiger' boom, Dublin imposed a salary cap on bankers as part of the rescue of lenders including Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland.
Honohan, who took over at the helm of the central bank in September, suggested salary limits could make it difficult to provide the incentives needed to recruit the best people.
"Around the world, people are becoming less keen on absolute ceilings on earnings," Honohan told the Irish Independent in an interview conducted on Monday. "If you do that, you can end up losing the people you want to keep."
On Wednesday, Allied Irish Banks ended a row with the government over executive appointments and pay, installing Colm Doherty as managing director with a salary of 500,000 euros ($750,000), the highest allowed under the terms of the bank's state bailout.
"The focus in other countries is already on reducing the payment of short-term bonuses, before the consequences of executive decisions become clear," Honohan said. "We have to try to align the incentives for chief executives of banks with the common good of the community."
Prime Minister Brian Cowen said the cap helped ensure banks met their obligations to taxpayers who rescued them and whose own living standards were falling.
"It's very important that banks recognise that ... the taxpayer has provided necessary funds to ensure that we have a functioning financial system," Cowen said in a video clip posted on the website of his Fianna Fail party late on Wednesday.

"UNEXPLODED BOMBS"
Ireland is about to pay 54 billion euros in bonds to cleanse banks of risky property loans via a "bad bank", the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), with the bonds to be cashed in by the European Central Bank.
The Independent said Honohan disagreed with the suggestion that Irish banks would require emergency ECB support for the indefinite future.
"The Irish banks are not getting special treatment," Honohan said. "They have lots of good collateral that they can use for normal loans from the ECB. I think the 54 billion in NAMA bonds will be of more use in the wider financial markets, because they are government guaranteed."
In his second public statement since taking over as governor, Honohan again departed from the more restrained style of predecessor John Hurley, whom he has also replaced on the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.
Honohan, who is overseeing the reform of Ireland's financial regulatory system after scandals surrounding now nationalised Anglo Irish Bank, said he wanted to make sure there were no "unexploded bombs lying around" in the sector.
"I haven't found any yet, but I want to make sure."
Honohan had used his first public appearance as governor in October to warn in a speech that Ireland needed to cut back some of the wages boosted in the Celtic Tiger years in order to take part in a global upturn.
His comments on wages have remained relevant with unions due to hold a one-day strike across the public sector on Tuesday against government plans to cut their pay to help stabilise the ballooning budget deficit.
(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Kim Coghill and Victoria Main) ($1=.6680 Euro) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 19 (Reuters) - New Irish central bank Governor Patrick Honohan opposes the government's policy of imposing a cap on top banking executives' pay, he was quoted by a newspaper on Thursday as saying.
Pressured by voters' anger with banks for contributing to the rapid fall from the 'Celtic Tiger' boom, Dublin imposed a salary cap on bankers as part of the rescue of top lenders including Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland .
Honohan, who took over at the helm of the central bank in September, suggested salary limits could make it difficult to provide the incentives needed to recruit the best people.
"Around the world, people are becoming less keen on absolute ceilings on earnings," Honohan told the Irish Independent in an interview conducted on Monday. "If you do that, you can end up losing the people you want to keep."
On Wednesday, Allied Irish Banks ended a row with the government over executive appointments and pay, installing Colm Doherty as managing director with a salary of 500,000 euros ($750,000), the highest allowed under the terms of the bank's state bailout.
"The focus in other countries is already on reducing the payment of short-term bonuses, before the consequences of executive decisions become clear," Honohan said. "We have to try to align the incentives for chief executives of banks with the common good of the community."
Ireland is about to pay 54 billion euros in bonds to cleanse banks of risky property loans via a "bad bank", the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), with the bonds to be cashed in by the European Central Bank.
The Independent said Honohan disagreed with the suggestion that Irish banks would require emergency ECB support for the indefinite future.
"The Irish banks are not getting special treatment," Honohan said. "They have lots of good collateral that they can use for normal loans from the ECB. I think the 54 billion in NAMA bonds will be of more use in the wider financial markets, because they are government guaranteed."
In his second public statement since taking over as governor, Honohan again departed from the more restrained style of predecessor John Hurley, whom he has also replaced on the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.
Honohan, who is overseeing the reform of Ireland's financial regulatory system after scandals surrounding now nationalised Anglo Irish Bank, said he wanted to make sure there were no "unexploded bombs lying around" in the sector.
"I haven't found any yet, but I want to make sure."
Honohan had used his first public appearance as governor in October to warn in a speech that Ireland needed to cut back some of the wages boosted in the Celtic Tiger years in order to take part in a global upturn.
His comments on wages have remained relevant with unions due to hold a one-day strike across the public sector on Tuesday against government plans to cut their pay to help stabilise the ballooning budget deficit.
(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Kim Coghill and Victoria Main) ($1=.6680 Euro) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 19 (Reuters) - New Irish central bank Governor Patrick Honohan opposes the government's policy of imposing a cap on top banking executives' pay, he was quoted by a newspaper on Thursday as saying.
Pressured by voters' anger with banks for contributing to the rapid fall from the 'Celtic Tiger' boom, Dublin imposed a salary cap on bankers as part of the rescue of top lenders including Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland .
Honohan, who took over at the helm of the central bank in September, suggested salary limits could make it difficult to provide the incentives needed to recruit the best people.
"Around the world, people are becoming less keen on absolute ceilings on earnings," Honohan told the Irish Independent in an interview conducted on Monday. "If you do that, you can end up losing the people you want to keep."
On Wednesday, Allied Irish Banks ended a row with the government over executive appointments and pay, installing Colm Doherty as managing director with a salary of 500,000 euros ($750,000), the highest allowed under the terms of the bank's state bailout.
"The focus in other countries is already on reducing the payment of short-term bonuses, before the consequences of executive decisions become clear," Honohan said. "We have to try to align the incentives for chief executives of banks with the common good of the community."
Ireland is about to pay 54 billion euros in bonds to cleanse banks of risky property loans via a "bad bank", the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), with the bonds to be cashed in by the European Central Bank.
The Independent said Honohan disagreed with the suggestion that Irish banks would require emergency ECB support for the indefinite future.
"The Irish banks are not getting special treatment," Honohan said. "They have lots of good collateral that they can use for normal loans from the ECB. I think the 54 billion in NAMA bonds will be of more use in the wider financial markets, because they are government guaranteed."
(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Kim Coghill and Victoria Main) ($1=.6680 Euro) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Ireland's finance minister turned down a request from Allied Irish Banks to exceed an executive salary cap imposed under a state rescue scheme earlier this year.
Allied Irish Chief Executive Eugene Sheey said in April he would retire as soon as a successor was found and the bank is now set to name board member Colm Doherty as managing director, with Chairman Dan O'Connor taking on executive duties.
The Irish Times, citing sources with knowledge of the bank's plans, said on Tuesday the bank wanted to pay Doherty 633,000 euros ($943,000), above the government's cap of 500,000 euros.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan gave no detail on Doherty's case but said he had received a proposal by Allied Irish to exceed the salary limit for one of its executives and the request had been rejected at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
"I can tell you that the government are not willing to break with the established guideline in this case," Lenihan told RTE radio.
The government, which holds indirect 25 percent stakes in Allied Irish and in rival Bank of Ireland after a bailout, has imposed a cap on bankers' salaries as it grappled with twin fiscal and banking crises.
"We have an adjustment to make as a country and banks have to be part of that adjustment," Lenihan added.
Lenihan, who said last week Allied Irish would get an "internal management team", acknowledged the salary cap had been a reason why some external candidates had turned the job down.
Rival Bank of Ireland, which like Allied has received a 3.5 billion euro state bailout, was widely criticised earlier this year for choosing a new CEO from among its own ranks instead of bringing in a fresh face.

(Reporting by Antonella Ciancio; Editing by Andras Gergely and David Holmes)

($1=.6712 Euro) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/PAY (antonella.ciancio@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: antonella.ciancio.reuters.com@reuters.net; +353 1 500 1518)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Ireland's government is expected to send legislation establishing a 54 billion euro ($80 billion) "bad bank" to President Mary McAleese later on Tuesday, a spokesman for the finance ministry said.
"She has five to seven days then to approve it," the spokesman said.
Investors earlier sold off shares in top Irish banks on concerns about the slow progress of the legislation, which parliament approved last Thursday.

(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Dan Lalor)

($1 = 0.6712 euro) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/ (andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Ireland's newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy:

THE IRISH TIMES

DUBLIN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Rents in Ireland fell by 18.4 percent in the 12 months to the beginning of October, reaching their lowest level in almost a decade, property website Daft.ie said on Tuesday.
The average rent fell to 771 euros in October from over 1,000 euros a year earlier. In the three months to September, rents fell 4 percent, the smallest quarterly fall in rents since the third quarter of 2008, Daft.ie said.
"While the number of properties available to rent is still at an all-time high, it would appear that these latest price falls are starting to have a positive effect on supply," said Daft.ie, which advertises nine out of every 10 properties for sale in Ireland.
"In Dublin, where drops have been higher than average, the total number of properties available to rent fell by almost 8 percent in the past 3 months alone," Daft.ie economist Ronan Lyons said.
The bursting of a property bubble has pushed Ireland from 'Celtic Tiger' boom to one of the deepest recessions in the industrialised world, with economists polled by Reuters expecting house prices to keep falling sharply into 2010.
An eventual recovery in the property market is one of the underlying assumptions for the success of the government's 54 billion euro "bad bank" scheme, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA).
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has said property prices would have to rise by less than 10 percent over the next 10 years for NAMA to break even.
"These recent falls in rent have pushed the average rental income back to levels last seen in 2000, which has much wider implications," Lyons said.
"NAMA was predicated on rents and yields remaining high between now and 2020," Lyons said. "However currently the yield on residential property has risen by just 0.1 percent in the last year, to 3.4 percent on average, compared to the NAMA benchmark of 6 percent."
(Reporting by Andras Gergely) Keywords: IRELAND ECONOMY/PROPERTY

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001529; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

By Andras Gergely

DUBLIN, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Ireland's 54 billion euro "bad bank" will start transferring the biggest commercial property loans from banks from January onwards, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Friday.
Parliament approved legislation to establish the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) on Thursday, sending it to the president who is expected to approve it next week.
Banks will formally confirm before the end of 2009 if they wish to participate in NAMA and "we will then start transferring the big loans from January on," Lenihan told public radio RTE.
The government earlier said that NAMA would start transfers by the end of the year and on Thursday Lenihan told reporters it was a "matter of weeks".
NAMA also needs approval from the European Commission, which has already urged Dublin to launch the scheme quickly and which Lenihan said he had regularly briefed while drafting the bill.
"The process is expected to conclude swiftly," NCB analyst Ciaran Callaghan said. "Now the key variable that remains in determining the value of bank shares is the actual pricing of these loans."
In a separate interview, Lenihan said no suitable external candidate had been found to take over as chief executive at Allied Irish Banks, one of the two biggest banks expected to participate in NAMA.
"No appointment of a chief executive can be made in those circumstances but some effective internal management team has to be put in place," said Lenihan, who has a say over appointments at the bank after a 3.5 billion euro bailout of the lender.

Allied Irish Chief Executive Eugene Sheehy said in April he would retire as soon as a successor was found.
With the search still on half a year later, media reports have focused on Colm Doherty, managing director of Allied Irish's Capital Markets division, who newspapers said was the bank's choice as CEO but resisted by Lenihan for being an insider.
Friday's Irish Independent newspaper said Allied Irish and Lenihan were close to a compromise which would see Doherty installed as group managing director, with Chairman Dan O'Connor taking on the new role of executive chairman.
"A more general announcement in relation to the management of Allied Irish Banks will be made next week," Lenihan told Newstalk radio.
Bank of Ireland, which got the same bailout as Allied Irish, was widely criticised in February for picking a new CEO from among its own ranks instead of bringing in a fresh face.
Lenihan added NAMA would buy half the loans of fully nationalised Anglo Irish Bank, bringing its loan book to as low as 40 billion to 46 billion euros compared with a balance sheet that peaked at 100 billion at the height of the former 'Celtic Tiger' boom.
"In effect NAMA will function as a bad bank for Anglo Irish Bank, .... (turning it into) a far smaller sized bank," Lenihan said. "That makes it much less of a risk for the country."
The government will make a decision about Anglo Irish's fate after stabilising it via the NAMA process, he added.
Shares in Bank of Ireland rose 0.4 percent by 1144 GMT at 1.87 euros, while Allied Irish dropped 1 percent and the wider Irish market was 0.8 percent higher.

(Editing by Jon Loades-Carter and David Cowell) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/ (andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Ireland's 54 billion euro "bad bank" will start transferring the biggest commercial property loans from banks from January onwards, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Friday.
Parliament approved legislation to establish the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) on Thursday, sending it to the president who is expected to approve it next week.
Banks will formally confirm before the end of 2009 if they wish to participate in NAMA and "we will then start transferring the big loans from January on," Lenihan told public radio RTE.
The government earlier said that NAMA would start transfers by the end of the year and on Thursday Lenihan told reporters it was a "matter of weeks".
In a separate interview, Lenihan said no suitable external candidate had been found to take over as chief executive at Allied Irish Banks, one of the two biggest banks expected to participate in NAMA.
"No appointment of a chief executive can be made in those circumstances but some effective internal management team has to be put in place," said Lenihan, who has a say over appointments at the bank after a 3.5 billion euro bailout of the lender.
Allied Irish Chief Executive Eugene Sheehy said in April he would retire as soon as a successor was found.
With the search still on half a year later, media reports have focused on Colm Doherty, managing director of Allied Irish's Capital Markets division, who newspapers said was the bank's choice as CEO but resisted by Lenihan for being an insider.
Friday's Irish Independent newspaper said Allied Irish and Lenihan were close to a compromise which would see Doherty installed as group managing director, with Chairman Dan O'Connor taking on the new role of executive chairman.
"A more general announcement in relation to the management of Allied Irish Banks will be made next week," Lenihan told Newstalk radio.
Bank of Ireland, which got the same bailout as Allied Irish, was widely criticised in February for picking a new CEO from among its own ranks instead of bringing in a fresh face.
Lenihan also said NAMA would buy about half the loan book of fully nationalised Anglo Irish Bank, reducing its balance sheet to as low as 40 billion to 46 billion euros from a peak of 100 billion at the height of the former 'Celtic Tiger' boom.
The government will make a decision about Anglo Irish's fate after stabilising it via the NAMA process, Lenihan said.
Shares in Bank of Ireland rose 1.9 percent by 0945 GMT at 1.9 euros, while AIB dropped 0.2 percent and the wider Irish market was 1 percent higher.

(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/ (andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN Nov 13 (Reuters) - No suitable external candidate has been found to take over as chief executive at Allied Irish Banks , Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Friday.
"No appointment of a chief executive can be made in those circumstances but some effective internal management team has to be put in place," said Lenihan, who has a say over appointments at the banks after a 3.5 billion euro bailout of the lender.
Rival Bank of Ireland, which got a similar bailout, was widely criticised earlier this year for choosing a new CEO from amongst its own ranks instead of bringing in a fresh face.

(Reporting by Andras Gergely) Keywords: ALLIEDIRISHBANKS/CEO (andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001529; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Ireland's 54 billion euro "bad bank" will start transferring the biggest property loans from commercial banks from January onwards, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Friday.
Banks will formally confirm before the end of this year whether they wish to participate in the National Asset Management Agency and "we will then start transferring the big loans from January on," Lenihan told public radio RTE.
The government earlier said that NAMA would start transfers by the end of the year and on Thursday Lenihan told reporters it was a "matter of weeks".

(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/ (andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

By Antonella Ciancio and Andras Gergely

DUBLIN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Ireland's parliament on Thursday approved a 54-billion euro ($81 billion) "bad bank" plan to remove banks' problem loans arising from a property market bust and help move Ireland out of recession.
Dublin has pumped 11 billion euros of capital into its banks, nationalised Anglo Irish Bank and introduced a blanket guarantee for bank liabilities, and now hopes the National Asset Management Agency will complete the clean-up of the sector.
"The Irish economy is suffering from a very sharp liquidity crisis which NAMA is designed to counteract," said Kevin McConnell, head of research at Bloxham Stockbrokers. "We do face a unique situation here."
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Thursday he aimed to appoint NAMA's board later this month and start transferring the biggest loans to NAMA within "a matter of weeks". The government hopes to move all the assets with a combined book value of 77 billion euros by around the middle of 2010.
Clarity over NAMA will allow Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, in which the government already holds indirect 25-percent stakes, to look for fresh sources of capital to plug the hole left by the asset transfers.
NAMA will hold the loans via a special purpose vehicle owned jointly with private investors, allowing it to account for NAMA's 54 billion euro debt outside the government's balance sheet at a time when national debt is rising sharply already.
Opposition parties nevertheless accused the government of engaging in the biggest gamble of Ireland's history.
"NAMA is fundamentally flawed, will do nothing to get credit flowing to small business and it will do nothing to support the retention or creation of jobs," opposition party Fine Gael said.
The bill will now be sent to President Mary McAleese, who rarely objects to legislation and who is expected to decide between Tuesday and Thursday of next week whether to sign it or send it to the courts for constitutional review.
It also needs approval from the European Commission, which has previously indicated it wanted NAMA to be set up swiftly. Dublin has already started recruiting lawyers and property valuers to have it up and running as soon as possible.
Shares in Bank of Ireland finished down 1.95 percent and Allied Irish Banks closed 2.34 percent weaker in a wider Irish market that was down 0.1 percent.
"The market will first of all focus on the start of the NAMA transfer process, and secondly at what European Union looks for," McConnell said.

(For a related feature please double click on
(For a factbox please click

($1=.6668 Euro)
(Additional reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by David Cowell) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001529; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Ireland's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved a 54-billion euro plan to to revive its financial system via a "bad bank".

Here are some details about how the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) will operate:

HOW WILL IT WORK?

DUBLIN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Ireland expects to appoint a board to the National Asset Management Agency, a bad bank, by the end of this month, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Thursday.
Lenihan also said he aimed to start transferring the biggest loans from commercial banks within "a matter of weeks" after parliament approved the 54-billion euro plan earlier on Thursday.
(Reporting by Andras Gergely) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/LOANS

(padraic.halpin@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: padraic.halpin.reuters.com@reuters.net; +353 1 500 1504)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Ireland's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved legislation allowing the government to set up a "bad bank" to pay 54 billion euros ($81 billion) to cleanse banks of risky commercial property loans.
The law to establish the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), which was approved by the upper house of parliament late on Wednesday, returned to the lower house for approval of changes made in the senate earlier this week.
The lower house of parliament has sent one amendment back to the senate again for consideration later on Thursday but that is regarded as a technicality which will not hold up the legislation.
Thursday's vote allows the bill to be sent to President Mary McAleese, who rarely objects to legislation and who is expected to decide between next Tuesday and Thursday whether to sign it or send it to the courts for constitutional review.
It also needs approval from the European Commission, which has indicated it wanted NAMA to be set up swiftly. Dublin has already started recruiting lawyers and property valuers to have it up and running as soon as possible.
(Reporting by Dublin bureau; Editing by Greg Mahlich) ($1=.6668 Euro) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/NAMA

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001529; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Ireland's finance ministry on Thursday improved its growth forecasts for 2010, noting that the outlook for the economy was improving with consensus pointing to positive growth returning during 2010.
Ireland's economy will shrink by 1.5 percent next year, the finance ministry's said in its pre-budget outlook, an improved forecast on the 2.9 contraction predicted in April.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan plans to deliver 4 billion euros of savings in his Dec. 9 budget and the outlook said the country's budget deficit for 2010 would reach 12 percent of gross domestic product.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin) Keywords: IRELAND ECONOMY/FORECASTS

(padraic.halpin@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: padraic.halpin.reuters.com@reuters.net; +353 1 500 1504)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The lower house of Ireland's parliament on Thursday approved a 54 billion-euro ($81 billion) "bad bank" plan to remove banks' problem loans arising from a property market bust and help move Ireland out of recession.
Dublin has pumped 11 billion euros of capital into its banks, nationalised Anglo Irish Bank and introduced a blanket guarantee for bank liabilities, and now hopes the National Asset Management Agency will complete the clean-up of the sector.
"The Irish economy is suffering from a very sharp liquidity crisis which NAMA is designed to counteract," said Kevin McConnell, head of research at Bloxham Stockbrokers. "We do face a unique situation here."
The government hopes to start moving the biggest loans to NAMA by the end of the year or by January, with all the assets with a combined book value of 77 billlion euros to be transferred by around the middle of 2010.
Clarity over NAMA will allow Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, in which the government already holds indirect 25-percent stakes, to look for fresh sources of capital to plug the hole left by the asset transfers.
NAMA will hold the loans via a special purpose vehicle owned jointly with private investors, allowing it to account for NAMA's 54 billion-euro debt outside the government's balance sheet at a time when national debt is rising sharply already.
Opposition parties nevertheless accused the government of engaging in the biggest gamble of Ireland's history.
"NAMA is fundamentally flawed, will do nothing to get credit flowing to small business and it will do nothing to support the retention or creation of jobs," opposition party Fine Gael said.
Thursday's vote allows the bill to be sent to President Mary McAleese, who rarely objects to legislation and who is expected to decide between Tuesday and Thursday of next week whether to sign it or send it to the courts for constitutional review.
It also needs approval from the European Commission, which has previously indicated it wanted NAMA to be set up swiftly. Dublin has already started recruiting lawyers and property valuers to have it up and running as soon as possible.
"The market will first of all focus on the start of the NAMA transfer process, and secondly at what European Union looks for," McConnell said.
The lower house of parliament has sent one amendment back to the senate again for consideration later on Thursday but that is regarded as a technicality which will not hold up the legislation.

(For a related feature please double click on

($1=.6668 euros)

(Reporting by Andras Gergely, Padraic Halpin and Antonella Ciancio; Editing by Greg Mahlich) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/ (andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001529; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Ireland's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved legislation allowing the government to set up a "bad bank" to pay 54 billion euros ($81 billion) to cleanse banks of risky commercial property loans.
The law to establish the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), which was approved by the upper house of parliament late on Wednesday, returned to the lower house for approval of changes made in the senate earlier this week.
The lower house of parliament has sent one amendment back to the senate again for consideration later on Thursday but that is regarded as a technicality which will not hold up the legislation.
Thursday's vote allows the bill to be sent to President Mary McAleese, who rarely objects to legislation and who is expected to decide between next Tuesday and Thursday whether to sign it or send it to the courts for constitutional review.
It also needs approval from the European Commission, which has indicated it wanted NAMA to be set up swiftly. Dublin has already started recruiting lawyers and property valuers to have it up and running as soon as possible.
(Reporting by Dublin bureau; Editing by Greg Mahlich) ($1=.6668 Euro) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/NAMA

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001529; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

By Steve Slater

DUBLIN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A winter of discontent is in store, as the Irish fume at a bailout plan which could burden a generation, and they say is way too generous to the banks who lent so freely when the "Celtic Tiger" was roaring.
Nurses, fire-fighters, senior civil servants and thousands more public sector workers are theatening to strike if their pay is cut to limit the damage on public finances, which economists see as inevitable in next month's budget.
While the public complaints echo criticism of bailout plans around the world, the options facing Ireland's government are limited. Its economy will shrink by 7.5 percent this year, a steeper fall than any advanced country aside from Iceland, according to the International Monetary Fund's latest estimate.

A euro member, Ireland has one of Europe's biggest budget deficits. http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/EZ_OCDBT1109.gif The European Union has given it until 2014 to start shrinking it, but spending cuts are unavoidable.
"There is huge fury among ordinary people, who sense that the taxpayer is being made the patsy for what went wrong," said Richard Bruton, finance spokesman for Fine Gael, the main opposition party.
Prime Minister Brian Cowen's ruling Fianna Fail party, its majority in parliament thinned by resignations and by-election defeats, may face a snap election if backbenchers and coalition partners the Greens break ranks in the face of wide protest.
A lightning conductor for the problem is NAMA, or the National Asset Management Agency, the euphemistic name of a complex "bad bank" deal the government is trying to push through. Parliament is expected to approve it on Thursday.
A 54-billion-euro ($81 billion) sink for toxic assets to complete the clean-up of ailing banks, it shows taxpayers paying for the banks' recklessness and greed, people say.
"If you were passing by a bank or a building society here you were in danger of being lassoed and brought in for a loan," said John Roche, 70, a retired insurance worker.
Now students and the rising ranks of unemployed find it tough to get credit.
"We were offered overdrafts every single month. Now, even if you have the ability to repay and can state that clearly, there's no money. From a student's perspective all I can say is thank goodness for credit unions," said Tiarnan Byrne, 19, a law and business student at Trinity College in the heart of Dublin.
Radio phone-ins and TV chat shows discuss the crisis and planned rescue with burning intensity; workers are taking to the streets and the country's largest public sector union has already called a 24-hour strike for later this month in protest at proposed cuts in public spending.
"There's inevitably going to be a burden, and there's a worry it's not going to be shared equally," said Byrne at Trinity. "The main fear is the banks will use it to balance their books and not ship it into the economy."

The "bad bank" is needed to save the economy, says finance minister Brian Lenihan, who masterminded the plan. It has already staved off nationalisation of more lenders and provides some much-needed certainty and clarity, but will spark another wave of change in an industry that has already been radically shaken up in the last year.
Anglo Irish Bank has been nationalised and the state holds indirect 25 percent stakes in both Bank of Ireland Plc and Allied Irish Banks Plc, in return for 3.5 billion euros provided to each.
With the European Central Bank behind it, NAMA has been designed to inject liquidity into the wider economy. People are confident the country will emerge from a calamitous property collapse that contributed to the recession, but after 15 years of unprecedented success, it stings.
The scheme's capacity for kick-starting growth is viewed warily by the public, including by many younger people -- or "Celtic Cubs" as they have been dubbed -- who have not seen any of the boom and busts of the past.
"The job market has completely shut down," said Peadar Donnelly, 24, who has just graduated from Trinity as a software developer.

http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/IR_UNEMP1109.gif
The IMF predicts a further 2.5 percent fall in the economy next year which would be worse than in any other developed country, and contrasts with such fellow eurozone economies as Germany and France already emerging from recession. It expects unemployment to leap to 15.5 percent from 4.5 percent in 2007.
Ratings agency Fitch last week cut Ireland's credit rating by two notches, citing the burden of the "bad bank" plan on top of its deep recession, but said the outlook was stable and at least Dublin was taking action.
There is little room to bargain on the cost cuts expected next month, the government says, given the deteriorating fiscal deficit. "The patient has finally stabilised in intensive care," Lenihan said last week.

Banks are not alone in attracting blame.

Aggressive speculation by property developers, politicians encouraging growth as tax coffers swelled, pressure from shareholders, and too-lax regulation also helped inflate a bubble that saw Dublin real estate prices surpass property values in Manhattan.
The crisis also uncovered a series of scandals at the banks. Most swirled around Anglo Irish, including secret loans to directors and to a group of investors dubbed the "golden circle", which critics say reflected the excesses of the era.
Anglo set the pace of the lending charge that created the property boom and bust, and many Dubliners want justice.
Ministers have said everyone found responsible for the scandals should face the full force of the law, though investigations into the scandals surrounding Anglo are being carried out by several authorities, and none are expected to yield a result for some time.
Former Anglo chairman Sean FitzPatrick has become public enemy number one, in the same way that the former head of Lehman Brothers Dick Fuld and the Royal Bank of Scotland's Fred Goodwin attracted public ire in the United States and Britain.
"We got it badly wrong. Trust in our sector is at its low ebb," said Pat Farrell, chief executive of the Irish Banking Federation. "We will have to rebuild our reputation brick by brick."

(Additional reporting by Andras Gergely; editing by Sara Ledwith) Keywords: IRELAND/BANKS (steve.slater@reuters.com; +44 207 542 4367; Reuters Messaging: steve.slater.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.