The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern today rejected criticism that he was going soft on the highly profitable Irish banking sector.
In a recent speech to international bankers, Mr Ahern said people should take a less negative view of the massive profits they made in view of the essential service being provided.
"I made the point that if another industry makes a profit, if a car company, an ICT industry, an agricultural co-operative industry makes a profit, people say that's a good performance. But in banking immediately people raise the issue, there's something wrong, they're making a profit," he said.
At leader's questions in the Dail, Mr Ahern said the banking industry employed 55,000 people and pointed out that the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin had €1.5 trillion in funds and half of the major international banks in the world.
"I've no difficulty in saying that banks should be competitive, they should charge competitive rates. If you had the opportunity (to read it), you would find it a very acceptable speech," he told Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte.
But Mr Rabbitee said the Taoiseach had ignored the fact that Irish banks extracted three times more profit from their customers than their Europe