Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Therefore, it is not costing them an awful lot. If a taxpayer does not pay the Revenue, typically interest and penalties are more than 100% of the amount the person was trying to not pay in the first place. The penalty here is approximately 15%, plus the staff costs. I accept there are staff costs, whatever they are, and we have acknowledged that some banks have hundreds of people involved at this stage. However, of the €900 million that they are giving back, 100% of the 115% is that €600 million, is the people's own money which they should never have lost in the first place. Therefore, it is not really costing them money. It is costing them money they should never have taken. The narrative is that it is costing them a lot of money but they are paying back money they should never have had, plus the administrative burden for doing it. However, on the compensation payments, as I said about Revenue, if a taxpayer does not do something right, he or she will be hit with interest and penalties of more than the amount that was not paid. I accept that it is an average and the figure will be higher for some people but the banks are being asked to pay 15%, which is not that expensive.