February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Slattery’s retort was that “strong profitable banks” are good for both the economy and employment.
He has also attacked the government for imposing a euro 300 million levy on banks over the next three years.
Slattery chairs the banking industry association, Financial Services Ireland, and works for IFSC company State Street, described much of the criticism of the banking sector as “envious.”
“Banks that are not adequately profitable are the first to curtail their lending activities, as is happening in the German economy currently,” Slattery said.
Slattery also attacked Ireland’s “appallingly high” insurance costs.
“A compensation culture, ambiguous attitudes to fraud, a less-than-efficient legal system and disproportionately high legal costs” had conspired to create a “dysfunctional insurance environment,” he said.