A group of Irish investment firms have drawn up a plan to help the government recapitalise the nation’s banks, according to the Irish Association of Investment Managers.

The body, which represents a large proportion of the Irish wealth management industry, said the group approached them on Wednesday to convey to the government its interest in co-investing to raise Tier 1 capital for Irish listed banks.

The group includes private investors and pension funds and is supported by overseas institutions, the statement said.

The IAIA would not reveal the names or number of the firms involved specifically but told WealthBriefing that some of the group was not among its membership.

There is no indication as to how much the group will invest but an IAIA spokesperson passed on the following words from the group: "We would not have approached the Department of Finance nor the chairs of listed banks were the group of investors not of sufficient magnitude in number and funding to meet the recapitalisation needs at hand."

Last week the Irish Times reported that AIB and Bank of Ireland, the wealth management arms of which are members of the association, were interested in this kind of plan.

Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks both declined to comment.

The plan comes after much speculation about potential private equity investment in the banking sector which has attracted strong opposition from the Irish Bank Officials Association.

Following the announcement, the Irish finance minister said in parliament on Thursday that he would “welcome private investment in our banking institutions from whatever source.”