Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

In the past 24 hours, it is the first time in my life I have had the pleasure of being in the company of three chief executives - IBRC, AIB and Bank of Ireland - that between them walk away with €2 million or €2.5 million per annum in salary. Considering the damage wrought on our society by banking institutions through their connivance in the speculative culture that existed during the property bubble and the rampant profiteering by both banks and developers on the backs of ordinary working people who are now stuck with the consequences - negative equity and unsustainable mortgages - what moral justification is there for bankers like Mr. Boucher to walk away with, in his case, 17 times the average industrial wage?