The board of Irish Nationwide will consider future ownership options, including flotation, in response to growing competition among financial institutions, its annual meeting in Dublin was told yesterday.
The chairman, Mr Peter O'Connor, said the board would "evaluate the society's future direction and strategy and no option will be excluded".
Later, the chief executive, Mr Michael Fingleton, said that while Section 102 of the Building Societies Act - which prevents any institution building up a stake of more than 15 per cent in any demutualised building society - remained a problem, the society had to respond to market changes.
Besides flotation, Mr Fingleton said forming an alliance with a European bank, which had no presence in the Republic, was also an option.
He said the society continued to lobby the Government for a change to Section 102, but had not received any support.
The provision was "extremely unfair" and was holding back the society.
When the various options were assessed, the society would report back to members suggesting a way forward, he said.
The rest of the meeting was dominated by shareholders angry over the low rate of interest available to depositors. Mr O'Connor said the society believed strongly that "in the light of low deposit rates and large Government surpluses, it is now time for the introduction of a low or zero rate of DIRT on deposit interest earned by people over 55.
"Many people need the interest on their savings to supplement their pensions and a low or zero rate of DIRT would not only help maintain the country's deposit base, but would also be a fair return to people who have helped build up the country while paying high rates of tax," Mr O'Connor added.
