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The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) has called on the Government to nationalise the Irish banking system as a means of addressing the current financial crisis and the lack of credit for small businesses.

Trade unions said that nationalisation was their preferred option, however the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) and Unite gave a cautious welcome to the report this morning that the investment subsidiaries of AIB, Irish Life Permanent and Bank of Ireland and a number of other Irish and international institutions are developing a plan to recapitalise the domestic banking system as co-investors with the State.