The Government's share in Allied Irish Bank will not be sold in the lifetime of this Government, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said.

Mr Noonan said it would be “late summer or early autumn” in 2016 before the stake would be sold off.

He said he expects to get €3 billion-€4 billion for the share in the bank.

The State owns 99.8 per cent of the lender after injecting €21 billion from 2009 to 2011 at the height of the financial crisis.

The Government has already more than recouped the €4.8 billion of the cost of rescuing Bank of Ireland, the largest lender, since 2009.

The Government has collected €5.9 billion from the lender, while retaining an almost 14 per cent stake, valued at about €1.35 billion.

Mr Noonan told the Oireachtas banking inquiry he would not be selling its small share in Bank of Ireland but future governments may.

The Minister also confirmed he would not be applying for retroactive recapitalisation in the lifetime of this Government.

However, he said he was eager to keep that option open but would not “be pressing the button” in the near future.