Halifax (Bank of Scotland Ireland)

Problem with the beloved mother is that she lives in a nursing home, she has no utility bills and no acceptable photo ID, she cannot open another account anywhere in Ireland.

She could apply for a passport, still does not solve the problem. No utility bills. I have talked to a few banks and they say they have to abide by the money laundering laws.

It does bring up the plight of elderly people in nursing homes who have sold their houses, the money laundering act has produced major problems for them.

I wonder would the beloved mother go on "Joe Duffy" or would Age Action like to take up the case.

Foreign-owned banks operating in Ireland, including UK-owned Ulster Bank Group, Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and the Danish-owned National Irish Bank, have asked the Government to be covered by the guarantee, claiming the scheme will put them at a competitive disadvantage.

Today's talks in Paris between the Taoiseach and French president Nicolas Sarkozy will be dominated by the global financial crisis, and, in particular, the Irish Government's bank guarantee. Last night, the president's spokesman said Mr Sarkozy "has followed and discussed" with Mr Cowen the Government's move.

A similar guarantee will be offered by the French government, with measures announced at the end of the week, the spokesman said.

The European Commission has said it will investigate whether the Government bank guarantee breaches EU law, but it has also signalled that it would continue to adopt a flexible approach to implementing EU state aid rules.

Britain wants Ireland to look closely at its guarantee of all deposits in Irish banks to make sure it complies with European Union competition law, a spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today.

More generally, he added, European governments should make sure that whatever actions they took to tackle the global financial crisis complied with EU competition law.

British banks compete with Irish banks both in Britain and in Ireland and have voiced fears they could lose out competitively to Irish banks that enjoy the full guarantee.

The Irish pledge on Tuesday to underwrite the country's banking system triggered a flood of cash from British businesses to Irish banks, a senior Irish stockbroker said.

"We just want the Irish government to look quite closely at the arrangements they are putting in place to make sure they comply with EU competition law," the British government spokesman said.

He said Britain was in contact with Irish authorities at a high level over the issue.

In Dublin, a Department of Finance spokesman said Ireland was in contact with its European partners over the government's move.

"We have been liaising with our European partners since the decision was made," the spokesman said. "Brussels would have been notified just in advance of the decision being announced."

Ireland guaranteed all bank deposits on Tuesday in a bid to improve the industry's access to international funds frozen by the global credit crunch.

The pledge covers up to €400 billion ($575 billion) of liabilities - more than twice the country's annual gross domestic product - and includes retail, commercial and interbank deposits.

But the spokesman said the issue was not just about Ireland.

"A number of European governments are taking steps to deal with the current financial instability, and the key element is that ultimately the [European] Commission needs to approve those steps being taken across the EU," he said.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso today said there needed to be stronger European financial supervision and greater consistency in national deposit-guarantee schemes to stabilise the financial system.

Mr Barroso said the existing system of regulation, based largely on national governments and regulators, could cope with the current crisis, but that the EU needed to go further in co-ordinated action to restore full confidence.

Mr Brown said yesterday the British government plans to raise the guarantee for bank savings to £50,000 pounds from £35,000 in a new banking law.

But he appeared to rule out following the Irish example.

Looks like the 400 billion that Rankin from Davy's computed could rise dramatically. British savers, pension funds and businesses are now switching their money into Irish Banks which have a 100% guarantee.

Our Government and taxpayers could end up supporting most of the savings in Europe. I know that a decision had to be taken quickly, but it looks like the Government's knee jerk reaction was not well thought out.

What happens if the EU rules that the decision was anti competition, there will be a run on the banks.