Irish taxpayers tell rescued banks that it's payback time

Dublin

FOR the Irish taxpayers who rescued banks after they sank the economy, it's payback time.

The government last week hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc to advise on how to recoup Allied Irish Banks plc's (AIB) 21 billion-euro (S$32 billion) bailout as part of a strategy that could help push Ireland's debt back below the euro region's average.