THE bailout of Ireland's banks is costing taxpayers nearly 14 times more than Britain's rescue of its much larger troubled financial institutions.

Britain's Treasury ministry revealed last week that, based on its latest figures, it now expects to make a net loss of just €2.4bn on the rescue of its main banks, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group.

The government here has so far pumped about €32bn into Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, AIB, Irish Nationwide and EBS building society. Anglo Irish Bank alone has swallowed €22.3bn of taxpayers' money and the scandal-hit bank's management has said much of the cash will "never be seen again."

AIB and Bank of Ireland have received a combined €7bn and about €2.7bn has been promised to Irish Nationwide, which is struggling for survival and is considering winding itself up. EBS has received €250m of taxpayers' money.

The Treasury's estimates for losses on its bank bailout programme were contained in budget documents published on its website last week. It said that based on current market values of its stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds it has lost €8.5bn. However, the Treasury now estimates that its Asset Protection Scheme, which was set up to insure toxic loans held by Royal Bank of Scotland (including property loans issued by Ulster Bank), will make a profit of about €6bn, producing the net loss of €2.4bn.

While much of the money in Anglo Irish Bank may have been lost, the government has said it expects to make a profit on the investment in AIB and Bank of Ireland. The state's 18% stake in AIB is currently valued about €180m and the 36% holding in Bank of Ireland is worth €1.3bn.

Anglo Irish Bank said it may be able to recover some of money it has received if the European Commission approves its plan to split into a "good" and "bad" bank, with its profitable business banking arms eventually sold off.

However, the British Treasury has admitted that its figures do not take into account the direct cost of other supports, such as deposit guarantees and the cost to the wider economy – for instance the rise in government borrowing – from the financial crisis.