Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Another unfortunate legacy issue for AIB is the call centre experience. I know about this myself as I have tried to sort out cases for constituents, with AIB and other banks, and have experienced the problem. This is an opportunity for our leaders. They are going around with their heads in the clouds and do not understand the situation. This is why they do not argue the case for debt write-down in Europe through the euro system. This write-down should be in two parts. First, there should be a €25 billion cancellation of the promissory notes, of the money borrowed on the creation of those notes to pay off senior bondholders, people who should be contributing to clearing up this mess. Second, the banks need more capital. This is not a joke, but if the banks had enough capital, there would be a more rapid restructuring down, thereby recognising my first point, that the banks created the asset price collapse.

However, our leaders want to deny this. I see customers coming in distressed and in debt. They are diseased. I have been involved with a case, not in connection with AIB, where the person's life expectancy has reduced. The irony is that the life assurance policy will get the bank out of the difficulty. Therefore, the bank has a vested interest in increasing the pressure on that person so that he will die within the next 15 years, within the life of the policy, and the bank will get all its money. This is wrong. There are too many things that are wrong in this situation.

I am asking the witnesses here, whom I know and respect, to tell our leaders, the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach, the truth. I am asking them to tell them to go to Europe and not be afraid to say the country needs a kick-start of approximately €50 billion. Patrick Honohan should be told to tear up the €25 billion of promissory notes on his desk and cancel them. Creditors will always tell people they are surviving, even as they are stretched on the rack. They always do this.