THE STATE ANNOUNCED that the cost of rescuing the banks could potentially cost €50bn – but what does that mean for the taxpayer?

Here’s the cost of the banking bailout, in numbers:

What will it cost me personally?

The bailout is the equivalent of €10,000 for every man, woman and child in Ireland.

Where does the money go?

Anglo Irish will get the lion’s share of the tax-payers’ money, with an estimated €29.3bn being pumped into the institution - in the best case scenario. However, the cost could potentially rise to €34.3bn.

The remaining €25.7bn of the funding will be shared between AIB (€6.5bn), Bank of Ireland (€3.5bn), Irish Nationwide (€5.4bn), and EBS (€350m).

Why could the cost to bail out Anglo potentially rise to €34.3bn?

If the property market fails to recover as hoped, then bill for Anglo could reach €34.3bn instead of €29.3bn.

The lower figure assumes that the value of commercial Irish property will fall to 30% of the 2007 peak, and will then recover to 57% of the peak by 2020.

In the worst case scenario, commercial property would fall to 35% of the peak and remain there for the next decade.

What about the national deficit?

The costs of the bank rescue will increase the Irish deficit to 32% of national income.

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More