John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are at the end of a long day and I want to understand exactly what happened.

The banks will not pay tax for a long time because of the way things are and they are all members of the banking federation. Did our guests ever discuss with their colleagues, or have such a discussion arranged through the banking federation that, over a certain cap of profit, they might give a substantial figure to a voluntary, charitable fund for, say, social housing? As part of corporate social responsibility, as a way of presenting a new model of banking and to build trust, beyond a certain level of profitability a bank would give a substantial contribution to a central fund that would, in turn, go to such a project as social housing. Would that be something that the banking federation or each of the banks might discuss to show the humanity and compassion of the banks in real terms?