IRISH LIFE & PERMANENT has potentially saved the taxpayer millions by being able to secure €250m in funding through private transactions.

It’s reported this morning that the company managed to raise the quarter-billion bonus from a foreign private investor, using its residential mortgage portfolio as collateral.

A company spokesman declined to confirm the amount raised or the identity of the investors, but revealed that the net cost was later than it would have cost to get guaranteed funding from the state.

The spokesman told the Irish Times that the funding deal was “an early sign of returning confidence, and we are happy with that.”

The funding deal is the first to be raised without the support of the government’s bank guarantee since AIB managed to raise €750m by issuing a five-year unguaranteed bond.

The ILP funding has been secured on an unguaranteed two-year basis. It also raised €322m in a private deal last month, though that deal was done as part of the government’s bank guarantee.

Chief executives from other banks have appealed to finance minister Brian Lenihan to extend the government’s guarantee schemes, with its blanket guarantee on deposits ending next month,  and an extended guarantee – allowing banks to raise funds with five-year state-guaranteed bonds – ending in December.

ILP shares were up 4c to €1.55 on the Dublin stock exchange this lunchtime.