THE CHAIRMAN of CRH and former chief executive of IDA Ireland, Kieran McGowan, has retired from the board of Irish Life Permanent.

Mr McGowan, who was a non-executive director of the bank for nine years, recently advised the board of his desire to retire.

The chairwoman of the bank, Gillian Bowler, paid tribute to Mr McGowan’s “long and distinguished service to the board and the company since his appointment in 1999”.

Mr McGowan was appointed chairman of CRH in May of last year and has a range of other business appointments and responsibilities.

Meanwhile, Permanent TSB announced yesterday that it plans to close its network of 48 tied agents.

The bank has informed the agents of its plans, which will come in early next year.

The announcement marks the conclusion of a process which began six years ago when the bank cancelled agency agreements with 50 tied agents.

Already this year, five agents have voluntarily terminated their agency status.

The move will only affect tied agents, and does not impact on the branches which the bank operates nor on the relationship which the bank has with mortgage brokers across the State.

The bank has invited those affected by the announcement to continue to work with it in the role of brokers.

Niall O’Grady, general manager for business strategy with Irish Life Permanent, said the tied agent model was not appropriate as a distribution channel for a modern bank.