Mr. Joe Walsh:

The Minister for Finance has said categorically that people's pensions are private property. That was in a reply to a recent parliamentary question. He said it is analogous to taking away a portion of a person's farm. There is, however, a Mercer group review of remuneration and pensions in the Bank of Ireland and we are complying fully with that review. According to a recent reply to a question in the Dáil, that review will be completed by the end of this year, a matter of a few days. We will seek to address a number of the issues that the Deputy has raised on foot of that review and report.