The taxpayer is footing the bill for €57.9m in financial regulation costs that should be paid by industry, according to Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD.

Mr Doherty has said that the Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan has confirmed to him in a letter that “of the regulatory cost of €128m a full €57.9m was unrecovered from industry.”

Currently financial institutions pay half of the cost of regulation, following an agreement in 2010.

Mr Doherty said Honohan confirmed this when Mr Doherty contacted him to follow up on questions raised at a recent Finance Committee.

“The time has come for Minister Noonan to tell the financial services industry that it must pay for its upkeep," Doherty said.

“This effectively means the taxpayer is picking up the tab for regulating the financial industry. That is an unacceptable way for such an important and profitable industry to be regulated."

Doherty said Honohan confirmed that the financial industry is not the only one whose obligation is only to and pay half of regulation costs, with industries such as “Insurance Undertakings, Securities and Investment Firms, Investment Funds and Investment Fund Service Providers and Moneylenders,” all covering 50 per cent of their regulation fees, in accordance with the 2010 agreement.

“We are talking about some businesses with turnovers in the millions if not billions,” Doherty said.

Updated: 20.53