Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has said the Government plans to extend its guarantee scheme for banks to a number of other banks with a major presence in Ireland.
Ulster Bank, First Active, Halifax Bank of Scotland, IIB Bank and Postbank were all named by the Minister as eligible for the scheme. Ulster Bank and First Active are owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS owns Halifax Bank of Scotland, Belgium's KBC is IIB's parent while Postbank is a joint venture between An Post and Fortis.
Ango Irish chief Drumm says scheme justified
Minister Lenihan said that there would be extra safeguards linked to the extension of the scheme to ensure that support related only to non-Irish banks' liabilities in the Irish economy.
He said the scheme was in the advanced stage of drafting and would be presented to the Dáil 'as quickly as possible'.
The Government last week decided to guarantee depositors and debts at six Irish financial institutions.
National Irish Bank, which is owned by Denmark's Danske Bank, says it will not be seeking to join the scheme as it is part of a similar scheme provided by the Danish government.
