Earlier this year, banks across Europe, including Ireland, were outraged when it emerged that a Belgian company, Swift, which manages international money transfers for banks including almost all the banks in Ireland, had handed over details of thousands of private transactions to the US Treasury as part of its war on terror. Swift was subpoenaed by US authorities but neglected to tell European banks about the disclosure, which contravened Irish data protection laws.

The Data Protection Commissioner immediately requested the banks here to inform customers that details of their international money transfers could be passed to the US authorities.

In a statement on 26 June, the Central Bank warned its customers that any information disclosed in a Swift international payment "could be disclosed to the US authorities".

The compromise between the EU and US authorities still gives the US the right of access to bank transactions but includes privacy safeguards.

"We welcome the fact that access to EU bank records by US authorities has been put on a formalised footing to ensure, as far as is legally possible, that data protection rights are protected, " a spokesman for the commissioner said last week. "But we regret the necessity of it."