Listen to article
Narrated by James Marriott
Michael McGrath has had a busy couple of weeks beating up the banks.
The minister for finance had been enduring a tough August news cycle ever since AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB came out with stonking half-year results.
With the bad old bankers raking in billions of euros, mainly on the difference between European Central Bank deposit rates and the paltry amount they offer retail customers, McGrath was facing a dilemma.