TERAPROOF:User:fredkenneallyDate:21/03/2012Time:23:06:53Edition:22/03/2012ExaminerLiveXX2203Page: 1Zone:XX1

22.03.12IRISH EXAMINER

Recommended retailprice in Ireland €1.90

XX1 - V1

Thursday, March 22, 2012 www.irishexaminer.com No. 58,996 €1.90

INDEXSUDOKU..................... 2FEATURES................ 15SPORT .................21-29ADVERTS ................. 30TV...................... 31&32DEATHS ................... 33

■ Consumers urged to shop aroundas fees may hit 60% of customersby Vincent Ryan

The era of free banking isdead — the head of theConsumers’ Association ofIreland, Dermott Jewell hassaid after AIB announced araft of new charges.Consumer groups have

also advised customers toshop around for a betterdeal.From May 28, AIB will

begin charging customers— who do not maintain aminimum of €2,500 intheir current accounts —transaction fees andmaintenance charges.The charges include:

■ 20c for every debit cardtransaction;■ 30c for every paper andstaff-assisted transactionincluding cheques, counterwithdrawals and lodge-ments, and staff-assistedtransactions at any AIBbranch or in the post office;■ 30c for withdrawing cashat the counter;■ 20c for every cashwithdrawal from ATM’swith AIB banklink cards andAIB debit cards.AIB will also be adding a

€4.50 per financial quarter,or €18 a year charge on topof transaction fees.Bank of Ireland require

customers to maintain aminimum of €3,000 intheir account or lodge atleast €3,000 and make ninepayments using banking 365during the quarter to avoidfees. If a customer is subjectto fees, these can either bepaid at 28c per transactionor a flat fee of €11.40 perquarter for 90 transactions.The withdrawal of free

banking facilities at AIB isan effort to turn the State-owned bank into a viablebusiness again, according tothe director of personal andbusiness banking at AIB,Bernard Byrne.“Free banking offerings

across the industry havechanged significantly inrecent times,” he said.

“While this was a difficultdecision to make, nonethe-less it is a necessary one ifwe are to continue to createthe conditions in which wecan become a strong and vi-able entity again.”The new charges are ex-

pected to hit as many as 60%of the bank’s customers.AIB Advantage (Over

60s), Student Accounts andGraduate Accounts will notbe subject to the charges.“The era of free banking

is all but dead, as far as I amaware, Ulster Bank are nowthe only bank offering freebanking. Consumers needto see what is available todispel the illusion of compe-tition that exists in Irishbanking,” said DermottJewell of the Consumers’Association of Ireland.The introduction of fees

and charges has led the chiefexecutive of the NationalConsumer Agency, AnnFitzgerald, to call on con-sumers to consider movingto rival banks.“AIB current account

customers who met theprevious criteria for freebanking should look at theirstatements, assess what theirfees would have been, andwork out whether it makessense for them to switch.”She said maintaining a

balance of €2,500 in anaccount which does not payinterest is the equivalent ofpaying €98 a year.“In addition, with no

interest paid on creditbalances, this means thatconsumers are losing out onup to €98 a year in interestthat they could earn if thismoney was on deposit, de-pending on the type of de-posit account chosen. Manyconsumers will be unable tomeet this condition unlessthey move money from asavings account into theircurrent account, therebylosing out on the interestthey would earn,” she said.

BUSINESS: 17

AIBchargesend ‘eraof freebanking’

Mourners grieve for victims of Alpine bus crash

Noonan hopes to settle €3.1bn Anglo payout with bondby Paul O’Brien

Political Editor

Government hopes have risenthat it can avoid having to forkout €3.1bn in cash to Anglo atthe end of the month.Finance Minister MichaelNoonan last night signalled thatthe Coalition was on the vergeof a breakthrough in its ongoingnegotiations with the troika ofECB, EU and IMF.With the Mar 31 repaymentdate looming, Mr Noonan saidhis hope was to settle the€3.1bn due by way of a Govern-ment bond — essentially an IOU— rather than cash.While the money would still

be owed, payment would bedeferred until a later date.This would give the Govern-ment time to conclude the nego-tiations with the troika on theoverall cost of the Anglo-IrishNationwide bailout.The bailout of the twofinancial institutions, nowmerged and known as the IrishBank Resolution Corp, cost€30.6bn.The Government funded thisthrough a promissory notesystem — also a form of IOU.The promissory notes, alongwith interest totalling €16.8bn,are due to be paid off over a20-year period, meaning thetotal cost of the bailout will be

€47.4bn unless the troika agreesto a cheaper alternative.The €3.1bn due on Mar 31represented the portion of the€47.4bn meant for repaymentthis year.Government hopes of defer-ring the cash payment appearedto be dashed earlier this monthwhen European Commissionvice-president Olli Rehn statedbluntly that he expected Irelandto meet its commitments.But last night, Mr Noonantold the Dáil there had been“developments” on the issueearlier in the day.He said: “The discussions withthe European authorities on thegeneral issue continue, but we

are now negotiating with the EUauthorities, and principally withthe ECB, on the basis that the€3.06bn cash instalment duefrom the minister to IBRC onMar 31, 2012, under the termsof the IBRC promissory notecould be settled by the deliveryof a long-term Irish Governmentbond. The details of the arrange-ment have still to be workedout.”The matter will be discussedfurther today when CentralBank Governor Patrick Hono-han meets with his colleagues onthe governing council of theECB.But an ECB agreement on the

€3.1bn payment method would

give the Government significantbreathing space ahead of the ref-erendum on the fiscal compacttreaty.Sinn Féin last night describedas a “blackmail clause” the con-dition in the treaty that preventsaccess to the EU’s future bailoutfund for those countries whichhave not ratified it.But Mr Noonan said it was“entirely logical and reasonable”that a country receiving supportfrom its partners under thebailout fund would be “preparedto run sensible budgetarypolicies” as laid down in thetreaty.

NEWS: 4

by Shaun ConnollyPoliticalCorrespondent

The scale of the massboycott of the householdtax left Government effortsto impose the levy branded“chaotic” as ministers ruledout extending the deadlinedate to register.Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore,

who came under oppositionfire for adding to publicconfusion about how the€100 charge can be paid,insisted the Mar 31 cut-offpoint would remain instone.Despite intense Dáil anger

over the “chaotic” way theflashpoint tax has beenbrought in, ministers refusedto acknowledge the publicbacklash.Labour TDs are furious,

saying Fine Gael blocked

failure to pay cases andministers were set to makeone million citizens “law-breakers”.Fianna Fáil leader Micheál

Martin said the Coalitionwas divided as he con-demned the “confusion” inGovernment over thecharge after he said SocialProtection Minister JoanBurton had called for awider range of ways to payto be brought in.Mr Martin moved to pin

the blame on what he calledthe “shambolic” introduc-tion of the tax on MrHogan, saying people werebeing bullied by “Big Phil”.Ms Burton said she was

confident of a surge in regis-trations over the next 10days due to the publicity thesubject was now getting.

NEWS: 4

Gilmore comes under fire for publicconfusion over household tax payment

moves to extend the regis-tration deadline under coverof rolling out the paymentto post office counters, withintense resentment focusedon Environment MinisterPhil Hogan.Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doher-

ty warned that the fact thatfewer than 20% of eligiblehouseholds — 300,172 outof some 1.6m — had so farregistered meant the courtswould be swamped withhundreds of thousands of

Eamon Gilmore: Said theMar 31 deadline remains.

Coffins are seen on the stage during a memorial service at the Soeverein Arena in Lommel, Belgium, yesterday. Mourners and family members attended a memorial serviceto honour the victims of a bus crash in the Swiss Alps which killed 22 children and six adults. SEE: Page 10 Picture: AP Photo/Yorick Jansens

Smoke deathsA report warns if trendscontinue, one billion peoplewill die from tobacco useand exposure this century— one every 6 seconds. P7

NEWS French police raid home of Jewish school gunmanThree explosions were heardlast night as French policebegan their assault on thehome of the gunman want-ed for shooting seven peopledead.Mohammed Merah, who

killed three Jewishschoolchildren, a rabbi andthree paratroopers, had saidhe would turn himself in atnight “to be more discreet”.However, after authorities

turned off street lights

surrounding his Toulouseapartment, three loudexplosions were heard out-side Merah’s flat, suggestingthe raid on the ground-floordwelling had begun.Toulouse’s deputy mayor

confirmed that the assaulton the flat has begun.Three police were

wounded as they tried to ar-rest the 24-year-old French-man of Algerian descentduring a raid about 3am yes-terday.Prosecutors have said

Merah was a self-taughtradical Salafi who had beento Afghanistan and hadtrained in the Pakistani mil-

itant stronghold, Waziristan.Claude Gueant, France’s

interior minister, said Merahappeared to have actedalone, but also claimed toauthorities that he metal-Qaida “chiefs” while inPakistan last year.

WORLD: 11

Go to www.tickles.ie

SIGN UP TODAY

���� ��� ���� ���

��� �� ��� ��� ����� ����������������

SAVE 50%CORK2 Driving Lessonsor2 Hour Pre Test atJohn Horgan’sSchool ofMotoring

SOUTH EAST3 YogaTune upClasses atYoga forWellBeingWaterford€35

SAVE 50%

€15�� ��� ���� �� ���� ��� ���� �������� ���� ����� ���� ������ ������������ ���� ���� ���� ����� �� ���� ��� ������������ ��������� ��� ��� ���������� ����� ��� ��� �������� �����

��� �������� ��������� ���� �������� �� ���� ������� ���� �� ������

���� ���� ��� ������ �������������� ��� ��� ����������������������� �� �� ��

��� ���������� ��������

������� ��������� ����� ��� ���������� ������ ������ ���������� ��� ������� �� ��������� �������� ��� �������� ��������� ��� ��� ��������� �� ������� ����� �� ����� �� ���� �������� ��� �� ��������� ������ ����� ������ ������ ����������� �� ��� ������� ���� �� ��������

INSIDE: SUPPLEMENT SPORT: 21INSIDE: SUPPLEMENT

BEEFINGUP OUREXPORTS

SPORT: 21

CITY KEEPDREAMALIVE

FEATURES: 15FEATURES: 15

HUNGERFOR A NEWHEROINE