John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator. We will conclude this part of the meeting because we have another session.

I thank Mr. Broderick and his two colleagues for coming before us today. I found the presentation and the replies to the questions very constructive and helpful. I encourage Mr. Broderick to proceed with his suggestion on the forum. I believe banking is changing considerably and all the stakeholders he mentioned should be part of a forum. We certainly can raise it with the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance when they come before us.

I encourage Mr. Broderick to take a stand on behalf of his members against the scripts. I find them offensive, difficult in terms of how people with the demands that are being made and I think somebody has to stand up against the attempts by the banks to chase customers and harass them to the extent that they fall into poor health and other consequences. I think there is an onus on the Financial Services Union to do that while there is an onus on this committee to do likewise.

On the question of fear and the whistleblowers, what Mr. Broderick described as the fear factor in the bank is very real. I know there are many bank employees who would like to highlight issues and bring to the attention of the industry certain practices but they are afraid to come forward. One must ask why? The legislation is in place, unfortunately, in my opinion the legislation is not worth the paper it is written on because it does not offer the protection that is necessary and therefore there is an onus on the unions. The unions have a major challenge in taking on board the issues raised by employees in banks who become whistleblowers. I know there are issues that need to be brought to the fore to have the individual who raised the matter protected. It is hard to achieve that balance. I would like Mr. Broderick to know he has my support, as well as that of others on the committee. Mr. Broderick has an extremely important role and shaping the future is all about respect for the people who work in the bank and for the bank customers.

Mr. Broderick commented on the bailout but I think it is time to bail out the people who have been so severely affected by the workings of the banks.