Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said his department was evaluating proposals from the three State-supported banks for savings in pay.

He said it was not possible at this stage to reveal precise details of the savings, from 6 to 10 per cent, bar what had been put in the public domain.

“I can confirm that all three institutions have put forward pension changes to varying degrees as part of their respective overall responses,” he added.

Mr Noonan said he was constrained in what he could say due to commercial sensitivities and, perhaps more critically, industrial relations concerns as the normal protocols continued and needed to be respected and observed by all parties.

He said his "weight" in respect of AIB and PTSB was more than in the case of Bank of Ireland, in which the State had a 15 per cent shareholding. "The purpose of the savings is to cut the cost bases of the banks in order that they become profitable again," Mr Noonan added.

“Profitable banks are a great advantage to people who do business with them, in terms of the availability of credit, the service they can give and the cost of what happens.”

Mr Noonan said the banks must cut their cloth according to their measure, but he would not dictate the specific terms of how they did it.