Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)
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That is not going to wash here because the public interest requires justice to be seen to be done for what is ultimately felt by those in mortgage arrears or employed by small and medium-sized enterprises that are haemorrhaging staff and money or are near closure. There are consequences but these should ultimately look towards justice. As the role of the witnesses is that of public interest director, I am not suggesting they have brought the public interest into disrepute. On the contrary, I am of the opinion that the bank is in a far better position now. The market capitalisation of the bank is about €3.6 billion. The reason for the increased value of a bank such as Bank of Ireland is that there were projected earnings to be made on the loans that were given out. As the witnesses are aware, many of the mortgages given out in Ireland from 2005 to 2007 are 62.5% in arrears in the city of Dublin. People have been given loans that will be paid back over 25 to 40 years. It was a form of lending that had no basis in reality. However, the repayments have a basis in reality when people's relative incomes have decreased and their capacity to repay those mortgages have decreased.

The substantial element is that we as a generation, who are not represented on the board, are the people who are feeling the brunt of it. I do not think there is anything in Bank of Ireland or any other bank to recognise debt forgiveness or debt write-down. As my colleague Deputy Dara Murphy pointed out, this is the generation that is supposed to drive the economy and, at the same time, it is not getting a break out of what was a form of lending that had no basis in reality other than trying to achieve the bottom line in profit. Where is the justice in the business model that Bank of Ireland is pursuing and if it is worth €3.6 billion, as we have been told, how is it that it worth that amount and where is the profit to be made? Perhaps the witnesses will explain where the justice will be for the people who are hurting.