The Chief Executive of Irish Life Retail has said that work on selling the business will start immediately with an outcome expected in three to six months.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Gerry Hassett said it will seek a listing on the Dublin and London stock exchanges.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said yesterday that IL&P will immediately start a process to sell its Irish Life Assurance business, as well as other non-banking assets.
The Central Bank also said that IL&P would need €4bn to help it cope with potential losses.
At 9.30am, Irish Life and Permanent shares had lost more than 66% of their value.
Mr Hassett said that Irish Life is a very valuable, vibrant business with an embedded value of €1.6bn.
He said the business has had quite a lot of interest shown in it already and is a low risk, very financially secure business.
He also reassured its 750,000 policyholders that the events of yesterday had no impact on them.
Mr Hassett said that yesterday was a tough day for IL&P and its shareholders.
He said the rules of the game changed and that perhaps the institution was caught in the crossfire of the bigger Ireland Inc picture.
The capital required for IL&P as outlined yesterday is to offset potential loan losses, he said, but whether those losses actually arise will only be seen in the fullness of time.
IL&P had hoped to avoid a capital injection from the Government, which up to yesterday it had managed to do, and had hoped to keep the group together, he added.
However, he added that yesterday's stress tests have brought certainty to the Irish banking industry and signals a new chapter in the evolution of Irish Life.
Mr Hassett said his main goal today is to reassure staff and customers that the business is a vibrant one.
