Pearse Doherty TD has said the planned sale of 25% of AIB later this year is the “wrong policy” coming just a week after the bank said it would pay €285m in dividends to the State.
He said that the State should hold on to the bank for the foreseeable future.
The Sinn Fein Finance spokesperson Deputy Doherty “Minister Noonan’s indication that 25% of AIB will be sold later this year is extremely disappointing. Last week’s announcement of a dividend to be paid by AIB shows why the State should be in no rush to sell any stake in AIB. There is no logic in offloading a profitable bank for a short term boost.
“It is approaching absurd that having rescued the bank at such a brutal cost to the Irish people the government are now signalling that they want to sell it off as soon as it starts paying dividends. We should be stating clearly that the bank is a valuable and profitable State asset that won’t be sold anytime soon.
“The involvement of Morgan Stanley and other international corporations in advising on the sales process should not encourage anybody that the public interest will be to the fore in this decision.
“The government lacks a vision of a functioning, competitive and properly regulated banking system. They are simply laying the road to a return to a smaller, even more complacent banking system than the country had before the crash.”
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