The taxpayer put a total of €64.1bn into the Irish banks during the financial crisis. After exorbitant boom-time lending, Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide were in deepest trouble and the State had to put in €34.5bn into the crippled institutions. It was money down the drain as only €1.1bn has been recovered to date and the remaining €33.4bn is lost. No wonder it's known in the industry as a "sunk cost".