This morning minister for finance Michael Noonan has expressed his confidence on recuperating the €29bn that the state pumped into AIB, Bank Of Ireland and Permanent TSB. The majority of this money (Approximately €20bn) was invested into AIB which left the state owning 99.8% of all bank shares in this country.
The minister has revealed he has hired Goldman Sachs International to advise him how to “optimise the return on AIB, where more than €20 billion of taxpayers money has been invested”.
Mr. Noonan has said he is very confident that over time, this state will get back every penny that was invested into the three banks.
In a statement today, Nonan has stated that there has been significant progress made my AIB in 2014, and will continue on the road to recovery throughout 2015.
“Given the significant size of our AIB investments and the range of options available to us to recoup value, my officials and their financial adviser are focused on ensuring that the optimum decisions are made regarding potential capital restructuring options and sequencing in order to maximise the ultimate return from these investments to the State over time,”
Concluding, Noonan said:
“I am confident that, over time, we will at a minimum fully recover the funds this government invested in AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB. If economic and trading conditions continue to improve over the next decade or so, the cash returned to the State combined with the value of any remaining shareholding may exceed the funds invested.”