John Hurley, Ireland’s central bank governor, is to retire in September in advance of reforms to merge the central bank and financial regulator in the wake of a series of banking scandals.

Mr Hurley, who is also a member of the European Central Bank’s governing council, had been due to retire three months ago but agreed to stay on to provide a steady hand during the financial turmoil, in which Ireland saw the collapse of its property market and an associated banking crisis.