Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

In recent weeks, the people's confidence in banks, especially Allied Irish Banks, has been rocked. We have experienced a drip-feed of stories involving overcharging, dodgy dealing and tax evasion. This latest catalogue of scandals comes to us from a bank that was bailed out by the taxpayer in the 1980s and was at the heart of the bogus non-resident accounts scandal exposed by the Committee of Public Accounts, chaired by the late Deputy Jim Mitchell.

Every time this bank has been embroiled in a scandal, we are told it is all in the past and that the culture is different now. Every time this bank is caught playing fast and loose with the laws of the land, we are told that those involved are no longer with the bank and that things are different. How can the plain people and the business people of Ireland have confidence that this will be the last scandal to hit this bank? How can the customers of Allied Irish Banks, who never get to benefit from sweetheart deals and perks, are charged for every transaction and pay for every service through the nose, believe nothing more is to come? How can the 25,000 staff of AIB, the vast majority of whom do their work exceptionally well, have confidence in their employer?

The culture of greed and low standards which spawned this and which these scandals now reveal is reminiscent of the culture that permeated Fianna Fáil in Government many years ago. Every time a scandal broke in that party, we were told that the events had happened years before. We were told that that was then and this is now and that things had changed. However, despite the establishment of a number of tribunals aimed at exposing corruption and low standards in political life, we have made slow progress in restoring confidence to the political process.

What assurances can the Taoiseach give that this culture of sleaze and greed will be eradicated from the banking sector once and for all? Is the Taoiseach satisfied that the regulatory bodies involved have the capacity to restore confidence to consumers and to the international community so that everybody will understand that we will put an end to this? If it happened elsewhere, people would be in handcuffs and being interviewed.

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