Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

There are two points there. This is quite central to capitalism. It is quite central to the idea of private for-profit corporations; the very nature of their existence means they seek profitability even if it is to the detriment of their customers. That happens right across the market in many different ways but it is particularly extreme in the banks. The other point is that AIB and PTSB are not privately held companies; they are publicly owned companies. They are publicly owned companies without public interest directors or any directors from the State currently operating on them. Throughout the course of this time, the Government and the State and the public had ownership of a large portion of the banking sector in Ireland and did absolutely nothing with it. It did not do anything with the public interest directors or the fact we own the banks. Is that not a fundamental flaw? The culture of running the banks for profit came from the Government which owned the banks and which said it wanted them to return to profitability. I do not mean that the Government wanted them to screw the customers in the way that happened with tracker mortgages. I do not think it wanted that but I think it told them it wanted them to maximise profits and return to profitability.