The bailed-out bank will hold a series of meetings – dubbed a “non-deal roadshow” – with investors over the coming two to three weeks.

The talks are aimed at reintroducing the bank to private investors ahead of the planned sale of a portion of its shares next year.

The bank must raise cash to meet European Central Bank demands that it boost its finances by €855m after failing stress tests that assessed whether it could survive a new financial downturn.

Deutsche Bank and Davy Stockbrokers are advising the bank on the moves. PTSB plans to target investors in the UK and US, a spokesman said.

While it has not yet submitted its capital raising plan for assessment, Permanent TSB has said it believes 80pc of the amount to be found has already been accounted for, thanks to a €400m State loan and the positive impact of rising property prices and asset sales.

That leaves about €125m to be raised on the markets, almost certainly by selling shares.

While that minimum figure has to be raised, the bank and its advisors may seek to raise more – potentially hundreds of millions of euro more, using the process to accelerate its return to private ownership.

Any shares in the bank sold to investors will lead to a dilution – or fall – in taxpayers’ stake in the bank.

Ciaran Callaghan, an analyst at Merrion Capital, has said the bank may sell as much as €450m of shares.

Permanent TSB was nationalised as a result of a €4bn bailout. Of that, €1.3bn was recouped by the State when Irish Life – once part of the bank – was sold.

It leaves €2.7bn to be recovered, but there is little optimism even in official circles about the prospects of taxpayers making that money back.

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