Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

This one is a real head-scratcher. Mention has been made of the disruption to the banking sector in the State next year. However, the beneficiaries of that disruption will be the three remaining banks. They will gobble up the customer base of the two that are heading out the door. The Minister claims he is not increasing the levy on banks because they will suffer disruption, but they will be beneficiaries of the disruption. That does not add up for me. It could be flipped the other way around. The two banks that are exiting keep a footprint here when we owe them nothing. It is a scandal that they are on the way out the door. We appear to be saying we do not think it is fair to have the levy on them despite the fact that they have betrayed the people of the country, have betrayed the country and have a footprint here next year. Whatever way we flip the coin, it does not add up. As I have said, it is a head-scratcher.

Who benefits and who loses? The two that are leaving benefit because they are out the gap. The three that remain benefit because they increase their customer base. The people who do not benefit are the customers. Despite this, the customers lose out because as taxpayers, they are down. I accept that the Minister did not budget it for next year, but year on year, the taxpayers are down €63 million and the banks, as usual, do very well. I would like to hear a bit more about this.