THE LABOUR Party has called for the temporary nationalisation of banks covered by the State guarantee scheme as part of a new 10-point plan aimed at job retention and employment creation.
Under the proposal, which it will put forward in its Private Members’ time in the Dáil this week, the banks concerned would be taken into public ownership for a period, cleaned up and later returned to the market.
Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore said yesterday the party would also be proposing the establishment of a banking commission made up of persons from Ireland and abroad “of the highest reputation” to oversee the appointment of the boards and senior management of the banks and to approve their business plans.
The proposal would also see the replacement of the present boards and senior executives of the banks concerned.
Mr Gilmore said that existing shareholders would “have the option of putting the shares into trust for a period of time so that they could recover the value or part of the value of their shares when the banks would be returned to the market”.
He said that the Labour Party’s temporary nationalisation plan would apply to those covered by the State guarantee scheme: AIB, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Life Permanent, Irish Nationwide and EBS building society. Anglo Irish Bank is already in public ownership.
Speaking at the launch of the proposals outside the headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank in Dublin, the Labour leader said that dealing with the banking crisis was central to its intention to prioritise the protection of jobs and the creation of new employment.
“The lack of availability of credit is putting viable businesses under terrible pressure. Unless a business can access credit to pay their bills and meet their payroll, more and more jobs will be needlessly lost,” he said.
Mr Gilmore described the Government’s plans for the banking sector as “a disaster”.
He said the State guarantee scheme had exposed the taxpayer to all the risks of the banking system.
Mr Gilmore said: “The Government has now had to put €8.5 billion to recapitalise the main banks. Anglo Irish has had to be nationalised. Now the taxpayer is going to have to put up another €24 to €30 billion to buy up the toxic assets of the banks.”