The bills arising from the DIRT scandal are finally hitting home for errant banks, whose cavalier approach to non-resident accounts left most taxpayers in the ha'penny place when it came to hoodwinking the Revenue.

Of course, the final responsibility rests with the individual customer making the false declaration but the banks have already admitted that "in the very different climate of the time" they effectively colluded with their customers in a bid to increase business.

Bank of Ireland has become the first to conclude a settlement with the Revenue and the news that it paid £30.5 million - a hefty multiple of its own reckoning of £2.8 million - bodes ill for some of the bigger offenders in months to come, among them AIB and ACCBank.

The question now is how the banks will recoup some of this lost revenue. After all, they all, including ACC, have shareholders to answer to. The answer, inevitably, will be that today's customers - despite Bank of Ireland's protestations to the contrary - will pay the price of the banks' folly in the past.

It seems that AIB has got started early, looking to raise its fee/charge income ahead of any settlement to line the coffers and reduce the chances of an unsightly hole in the profit account at the end of the year.

The State's largest bank has informed customers of "changes and enhancements" in current account charges. It cites customer research pointing to the need for greater simplicity and clarity and boasts that its new charges are more transparent and straightforward.

Among the alterations is the provision of free banking to people keeping a minimum credit balance of £400 in their account through each charging quarter. Unfortunately, the new transparent structure fails to let the same customers know they can avail of free banking with a mere £100 minimum balance in their accounts.