David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Irish people have endured a great deal of pain in recent years. Although they have suffered under austerity and all the tough and gruelling budgets of the past five to six years, they have done so against a backdrop of €90 billion of taxpayers' money going into the banks in some form, shape or fashion. More than €30 billion of the money that went into the banks went to recapitalise the pillar banks. The State still has a shareholding in some of the banks, with a 15% shareholding in Bank of Ireland. Some €10 billion of that investment in the banks was to be used to offset losses in the domestic mortgage market but that has not happened yet. The banks have not played ball with people in mortgage distress. I do not believe the State or the people of this country can have confidence in Mr. Richie Boucher or the senior executives of the Bank of Ireland when they are paying themselves exorbitant salaries. It is not tenable for Mr. Boucher to be paid more than €800,000 a year when people are suffering and when many of the customers of that bank are struggling to pay their mortgages. In fact they cannot pay them or pay any of their bills, and cannot even put food on the table. Yet this person seems to think it is acceptable to walk away with €800,000 and more.