Forget the Budget. The biggest winners from the State's largesse this week were the staff of TSB and ICC banks. As part of the deals which brought more than £500 million (€635 million) into the State coffers, employees at both institutions will get a 14 per cent stake through employee share ownership plans. Quite what their new colleagues in Irish Life & Permanent and Bank of Scotland will think of this arrangement is unclear, but it is not hard to see that they might feel at a disadvantage.

The expected sales came days after Labour Senator Joe Costello called for legislation to force banks to get Central Bank approval before closing branches. Why private sector banks should be constrained to run their businesses in a less profitable manner for their shareholders while the State flogs its financial institutions for a £500 million-plus windfall is difficult to fathom.

Banks have a responsibility only to their shareholders, customers and staff. In this case, if customers think banks no longer serve them, they should take their business elsewhere. If the State is so concerned about the morality of bank closures, they might have held on to ACC and TSB and created a State branch structure. Some chance . . .