Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

I do not see any such considerations. The Minister has asked a question; I will answer him. There is no policy reason to allow these banks to carry 100% of their losses forward - none whatsoever. The arguments the Minister has put forward, the straw men, are gone. It is not an issue of capitalisation; it does not exist. It is not an issue in relation to the dividends we would receive; it does not exist. This was in our tax code. A Minister for Finance from Fianna Fáil brought this into our tax code. It was there, it was sensible and it was accepted by the Department. It was brought out. It was changed for a particular reason that no longer exists. Those banks would be able to carry forward their losses but would be able to carry forward only 50% in any given year, which means they would have to pay tax now. The Minister asked me a question. I cannot acknowledge something that does not exist. I have no doubt he is doing this from what he believes in, but he should not try to pretend that this is about saving the interests of ordinary people out there, who are absolutely hammered by a cost-of-living crisis, and that he is doing this for their sake to make sure that banks that make €5 billion pay no tax in this State. Businesses recognise this. Businesses recognise that when they make profits they have to pay a bit of tax. Left, right and centre in my constituency, they are paying their tax. We are a decade and a half on from the crisis and we still see a situation where losses can be carried forward at a rate of 100% and will be carried forward for the coming years, with bumper profits.