The Irish Business and Employers Confederation has accused the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, of "partisanship" over her remarks about bank staff receiving compensation for handling the euro at last weekend's conference of the Irish Bank Officials Association in Galway.

At the conference, Ms O'Rourke referred to compensation claims before the Labour Relations Commission. "Your case is well documented and laid out and would stand scrutiny. And you will gain from the knowledge of colleagues in other countries as to how they are managing," she said. IBEC has been trying, unsuccessfully, to establish from the Minister's office what her stance is.