Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy says that I do not care. I know he does not like having his selective quotations pointed out to him in front of the committee. I understand why he wants to interrupt me again, but to continue my point, he again made the point that I do not care about those who have been affected by the appalling scandal of what happened with tracker mortgages. I assure the committee that of course I do. That is why I have again and again used the word "scandal" regarding how those people were treated, and "scandal" regarding how banks dealt with issues in the conduct of the investigation of the Central Bank and how long it took for the issue to be concluded. I have a duty to those families that I aim to discharge through supporting our independent regulators.

I also have other duties. Some of these other duties relate to the fact that we now have only three banks left in our country that have the ambition of being large, retail banks with branches that employ many people. At present, those banks employ just over 19,000 with the aim of getting to 20,000 people. Do we want those banks to have people within them who are attracted to stay in roles looking after deposits, and lending to SMEs and small businesses, or do we want some of those people going to many other banks that offer variable pay as a norm? It is not just banks but many other employers throughout our country. While that is a difficult argument, it is nonetheless one I have to make in the context of thinking about the future of retail banking. Do I want those people working in Irish banks that are registered and employ people in Ireland or other large, global organisations that do not have a focus on lending within the Irish economy, employing 20,000 people within the Irish economy, and that make bonuses available as a standard part of their packages?

As regards the charge the Deputy made about me only being interested in senior bankers, the Financial Services Union, FSU, would not have welcomed the decision I made yesterday if the only people who will benefit from this are senior bankers. The FSU would not have made the case for this change if its ambition and aim was to ensure senior bankers are paid more. I do not make decisions with a view to entirely meeting the needs of unions or employers, but the fact that the FSU made this case for so long makes it very clear that the motivation for that argument and for the decision is not just about those at the top. It is about all the other people who I want to have an opportunity to continue to have careers in the three banks that are subject to this legislation. That is why I made the decision.