BRIAN LENIHAN, the finance minister, telephoned the RTE director-general last week after a series of alarmist telephone calls to the popular Liveline show raised fears of a run on Irish banks.

Up to a dozen callers to the RTE Radio 1 programme urged listeners to withdraw their money from banks, while just a handful appealed for calm.

Lenihan rang Cathal Goan, the station chief, to express his “concern about uninformed comment” on the credit crunch “and its possible effects”.

Yesterday the finance minister increased the state guarantee on bank deposits from €20,000 to €100,000 per account to ease savers’ concerns. The Irish deposit guarantee scheme is now the second highest in Europe. Credit union deposits are being brought under the protective mechanism for the first time.

The concern over Liveline was prompted by the fact that, according to Lenihan, “there had been a significant shift of consumer deposits” among various banks around the country last week. The minister said he had “a cordial and constructive conversation” with Goan on Thursday in which he made his concerns known.

During one episode of Liveline, Joe Duffy, its presenter, said that if the banks came out with a public declaration that deposits were secure “people would not believe them”. He also said: “If they come out with their hands on the Bible and say ‘we are not in trouble’, why should we believe them? Look at London, look at Enron, go back further and look at Rusnak and AIB the issue is trust.”

Irish banks’ share prices tumbled on Wednesday and Thursday with Bank of Ireland suffering most, closing at €3.78 per share on Thursday, compared to €18.65 in 2007.

Depositors moved more than ¤50m from banks into An Post savings accounts last week, apparently chasing the security of the state-owned fully guaranteed institution.

Only the news of the American government’s plan to buy up bad debt prompted a recovery on Friday.

Senior RTE editorial executives spoke to the Liveline production team after Lenihan’s phone call and stressed the need for the show to include “expert” opinion on the liquidity debate, and not just members of the public, in any future broadcasts. They then moved to “balance” the debate by packing later news programmes with government and banking industry “experts”, who reassured the public about the liquidity of the Irish banking system.

On Friday, the day after Lenihan’s call to the Goan, Duffy broadcast a promotion for Liveline at 12.50pm indicating that there would be further discussion about the banking crisis on his show that afternoon.

No such discussion followed, however. An RTE source said that because there was an insufficient mix of opinion, and no change in tone among Liveline callers, it was decided not to discuss the subject again. The source said the station went to great lengths to ensure that expert analysis of the credit crunch was carried through five ensuing news programmes on radio and television — Five Seven Live, Six One News, Nine News, Prime Time and Friday’s Morning Ireland. Contributors included Lenihan, John Hurley, the Central Bank of Ireland governor and Patrick Neary, the financial regulator.

Asked if there were “signs of a run on the banks” last week, Lenihan said that there was “rapid movement of deposits” between institutions but the pattern was not consistent in different regional centres. “There was no loss of liquidity in the whole system. There was no question of anyone hiding or concealing funds,” he said.

Duffy yesterday refused to comment on suggestions that last week’s programmes had been unbalanced. The former student-union leader, who was jailed for two weeks in 1984 after a student occupation of health-board offices, attracts an average of 368,000 listeners each day.

Defending Liveline yesterday, an RTE spokesman said the show is based on calls from members of the public. Last week, 11 callers were put on air who advocated the withdrawal of money. Only three callers urged calm.

Michael, a post office worker, said there was a huge surge in people opening accounts in his branch. An Post savings accounts are guaranteed by the government.

Another caller, Jimmy, said withdrawing his money from the bank was not an “irrational decision”.

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