Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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This is not a new concept. In the old days we had a Minister for transport who on one hand was the Minister for transport and tourism but was the 100% shareholder in Aer Lingus on the other. A balance had to be struck between protecting the airline, which was a big deal back then, and promoting tourism and fostering new airlines, which Ryanair was at the time. Chinese walls are fine but the guy at the top, the Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform, must try and split his head into two or three different components and compartments. We can bring in Mr. Carville on a different day and ask him the following question. Is there a way from a banking policy perspective that we can use our State shareholding to influence the culture in the banks and get them to perform in the way we would like? I am not talking about their behaviour in everything but their culture, how they perform and how they put consumers first. Is there a way for us to use what I believe to be the 75% shareholding in AIB, the more than 74% shareholding in the Permanent TSB and, to a lesser extent, the shareholding in Bank of Ireland?