Just two weeks ago it looked as if the Irish banks were having it all their own way in the domestic market. AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB reported a collective €2 billion in profits for just the first half of the year – a result driven almost entirely by the massive uplift provided by European Central Bank interest rate rises since July last year.
It was a huge turnaround from the often disappointing income levels of the past decade, when the ECB’s long-term zero interest rate policy squeezed bank earnings down to practically nothing.
But in recent days consumers and politicians have begun waking up to the real price of that remarkable improvement in profitability. Irish depositors are receiving among the lowest returns
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