Govt raises deposit guarantee
Sunday, 21 September 2008
The Government has raised the Irish deposit guarantee to €100,000 for savers.
The measure applies to people who have savings in credit unions as well as banks and building societies.
It took effect from yesterday.
The guarantee of €100,000 is five times higher than the previous level of 90% of a deposit up to €20,000. That safeguard has remained unchanged since 1999.
The new measure means Ireland will have one of the highest levels of guarantee of any country in Europe.
Britain by comparison has €48,300, the Netherlands €38,000 and Italy €103,000.
Changing the guarantee has been under consideration for some time.
But the timing comes after a week of concerns among consumers prompted by unprecedented international banking meltdown.
The move requires legislation which will be back dated to Saturday.
