The director of consumer affairs, Ms Carmel Foley, has refuted comments made by the Irish Banker's Federation (IBF) regarding her recent critique of the banking sector.

She also expressed concern at what she calls the "personalised nature" of remarks made on Thursday by IBF president Mr Donal Forde.

She said her submission to the Competition Authority was based on the banks' audited accounts, domestic and European regulatory authorities, and research agencies.

She condemned the IBF for using particular sources when it suits its argument but then describing those same sources as inaccurate and unreliable when they are used to criticise the banking sector.

She also reiterated her support for section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act, which obliges banks to justify their charges.

Ms Foley says that price control is essential for the protection of consumers.

In her detailed response, Ms Foley challenges all the charges made by the IBF against her submission.

To the IBF suggestion that bank charges have remained "static", she said that, up to April this year, her office had dealt with more than 100 notifications to increase existing charges. She added that her office's survey of charges covered all regulated activities as opposed to the IBF's "basket of the most popular transactions".

She also insisted that her office was not alone in thinking that profitability was high in the Irish banking sector and referred to a joint report by the Central Bank and the Department of Finance to back up this claim.

With regard to Irish banks' charges compared to their European counterparts, Ms Foley said that a recent IBF survey could not be authoritative because data from France, Italy and the Netherlands were not included, while data from other key markets - such as Germany - was limited.

She countered the IBF claim that figures on credit card interest rates in her submission were wrong by saying that the point at issue was why the rates had not fallen despite numerous cuts by the European Central Bank.

Last night, the IBF said that there was nothing of substance in the points made by Ms Foley and that her office failed to address the inaccuracies and misleading elements that the organisation had raised the previous day.

It also denied Ms Foley's assertion that the Central Bank and the Department of Finance had called for a review of the retail payments systems.