Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance, Pearse Doherty TD, has said that bumper bank profits are unjustified and the result of increasing interest rates on mortgages while short-changing savers.

The Donegal TD’s comments come after AIB were the latest bank to announce exceptionally high profits of €2.8bn.

Teachta Doherty said:

“These bumper profits seen across the banking sector come at a time when interest rates on mortgages continue to put homeowners under real pressure.

“These profits are not the result of savvy business decisions, increased productivity or innovation. They are a result of the interest rate environment and the money homeowners have been forced to pay in higher interest rates while savers are short-changed.

“Banks have been very quick to pass on higher interest rates from the ECB despite Ireland already having some of the highest interest rates in the EU. At the same time, they have been slow to increase interest on savings.

“Ireland continues to have some of the highest interest rates in the EU and interest rates on savings are below the EU average.

“This has led to the direct transfer of wealth from households to corporate profits of the banks.

“Banks and a number of other privileged sectors such as insurance and electricity have been allowed to make unjustified windfall profits that have caused real hardship for many.

“High bank profits during a cost-of-living crisis is not the sign of a healthy economy but a government failing to act.”