Irish Life & Permanent PLC (IPM.DB) and Allied Irish Banks PLC (AIB) said Thursday they will pass on the full European Central Bank 50 basis points interest rate cut to variable and tracker mortgage customers, while Bank of Ireland PLC (IRE) said it will respond later Thursday.

IL&P said it would pass it on to "all" variable and tracker customers, but a spokesman for AIB said it will pass it on to owner occupiers within eight to nine working days and later decide on investment or buy-to-let mortgages.

Economists had expected Ireland's major banks to promptly announce that they will pass on the rate cut, which brings the ECB benchmark rate to 1.5%, as they are all included in the government's EUR400 billion-plus bank deposit guarantee scheme.

-By Quentin Fottrell, Dow Jones Newswires; +353 1 676 2189; quentin.fottrell®dowjones.com