Labour’s Finance spokesperson, Deputy Ged Nash TD, has urged the Government to proceed with “absolute caution” on any proposed sale of Permanent TSB (PTSB), warning against a repeat of past mistakes in Ireland’s banking sector.
Deputy Nash said the announcement by PTSB represents the logical conclusion of the current Government’s policy to return State-owned banks to full private ownership as quickly as possible.
He said the only guiding principle Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael appear to have on the banks in which the State has held shares is to put them back into full private ownership at the earliest opportunity.
He reiterated Labour’s long-standing position that the State should retain a strategic shareholding of not less than 33% in PTSB to maintain influence in a market where competition remains limited.
Nash said competition is a significant problem for customers and for the indigenous economy. He added that the Minister for Finance, as the main shareholder, must proceed with absolute caution and be mindful of how banks have been managed when in full private ownership in the recent past.
He said any sale must include safeguards to protect both staff and communities. Government and the regulator, he said, must be clear that a condition of any sale must be to protect the existing physical branch network and ensure there is no negative impact on jobs at PTSB.
