Bank of Ireland says in a business plan prepared for the Office of the European Competition Commissioner that it will not require any more State aid.
BoI also told a Joint Oireachtas Committee hearing on Finance and the Public Service today that it was committed to engaging with the "bad bank" NAMA (National Asset Management Agency) in order to support a functioning banking system, and aid economic recovery.
The governor, Pat Molloy, said that cash flow for businesses remains a problem and that SMEs continue to face significant trading difficulties.
He said that €2.1 billion has been drawn down by small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in the first nine months of the year.
Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said it was not credible to suggest that every business needing credit was getting it.
Molloy accepted there was a mismatch between what politicians hear from their constituents and what the banks say.
Bank of Ireland's group chief executive Richie Boucher said limits for overdrafts for SMEs had increased by 18%. He said the bank was working with Enterprise Ireland to 'improve our understanding of the sector."
"We have a real task ahead of us to get across convincingly what we are doing for small business," Boucher added.
Boucher also confirmed that BoI businesses outside of Ireland were being sold.
He also said that while the money freed up by the NAMA process is important, the bank still needs to reduce its reliance on the Government guarantee. He said the liquidity situation six months ago was much more difficult that it is today.
Outgoing AIB group chief executive Eugene Sheehy told the committee that competition is intense in the deposit market, and that the economics of the deposit side of banking "is over."
Sheehy said that after NAMA is enacted, there will be no perceptible difference at AIB branches in terms of lending to customers. Asked what the bank will do with the NAMA bonds, Sheehy said they would go to improve its overall funding position. The bank provides of 40% of lending to the Irish SME sector.
