Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am one of the members of the committee who is putting pressure on the banks. I do not get up in the morning to come to the Houses of the Oireachtas in order to be misled or lied to by senior bankers, as is happening in committee room 4. I have just come from a meeting with representatives of Permanent TSB, whom I asked about the bank's split mortgage product. They said they do not charge interest rates on the warehoused portion of the product. After I left the meeting I contacted a customer of Permanent TSB, who sent me a copy of a document the bank issued two weeks ago stating that interest would be charged on the customer's warehoused account at a rate of 4.1%.

The banks are running rings around this Government and it is time the Minister stepped up to the mark. He should stop hiding behind the Central Bank and its targets and start to rein them in. Last April the Taoiseach told this House that he expected a substantial contribution from the leadership of the banks in respect of pay and pensions. He further stated that it would be right to have such an expectation because these are extraordinary salaries. He made his comments in the context of the Mercer report and at a time when Bank of Ireland was holding its AGM. The Minister was to vote on Richie Boucher's salary. One year later, not one cent of the basic pay of top bankers has been cut on foot of the Mercer report recommendations. In particular, citizens of this State will be shocked to learn that, once again, the CEO of Bank of Ireland, Richie Boucher, has earned an obscene salary-----

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