The bank officials' union has said that some senior politicians, people in the beef industry and government officials should face imprisonment before any bank officials caught up in the inquiry into illegal banking charges.
The call came from the Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA) general secretary, Mr Ciaran Ryan, who was speaking at the annual Irish Conference of Professional Service Associations (ICPSA).
He told affiliate members of the ICPSA yesterday that he was not trying to "put down" senior banking managers, but the policies used to increase bank charges were not the responsibility of ordinary officials.
His call was supported by the ICPSA president, Comdt Brian O'Keeffe of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO), who also accused the banks of creating high levels of stress among their officials "by the ruthless pursuit of profit".
In his address, Mr Ryan said: "The word out there is that the powers-that-be are looking for an Irish Lester Piggott to set an example to all."
He went on to refer to the tribunals of inquiry established to investigate various scandals.
Referring to the beef tribunal he said: "However, my recall is that two line managers from a meat plant in Co Limerick were the only fall guys who ended up in court. Most emphatically I say that this must not happen in the banking industry."
He added: "Every bank has a set of the most detailed and stringent rules for the guidance of and, I may say, control of staff working in branch banking. "All employees know this and they operate absolutely within regulation because they know their failure to do so may put their jobs in jeopardy.
"Against this background, it is unthinkable that branch management or staff would take initiatives of their own to either short-change their customers or assist them in evading tax."
Comdt O'Keeffe was critical of the profit levels being achieved by the banks, pointing out that the Bank of Ireland's £504 million profit this year was equivalent to the Garda budget and more than the State spends annually on defence.
"At industry level it appears that the cost is the sacrifice of the standards of integrity and morality which customers have a right to expect from their bank but which they can no longer take for granted," he said.
"However, for many bank employees there is an even higher cost - that is the high levels of stress engendered by the ruthless pursuit of profit in their industry. Line managers who are on performance-related pay place staff under enormous and increasing pressure to achieve targets which will justify their handsome bonuses."
The conference supported a motion that "responsibility for any alleged [banking] misdemeanours or dishonest stratagems should not be passed down by those responsible".