Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

We must have a way to quarantine the bad debts. There is a big differential in what the market is going to factor in between the Government's €7 billion and the amount the banks are thinking of, having read today's statement by the Bank of Ireland. I acknowledge that the banks will provide some of that by cutting back costs and by not paying dividends. I do not suggest that the State must provide all of that, but there is a big gap.

We also suggested the establishment of a top level Irish banking commission, composed of the best people with experience here and abroad. Our regulation system has failed abysmally. I do not want to get into any personal comments on individuals, but the Minister answered a question I asked a few days ago about the "leaving" package of the former regulator. I do not know if he appreciates how angry people are at the notion that the regulator, on retirement, received an additional bonus payment of eight months, which the Minister claims was due to legal advice. I do not know if the Government is thinking about the political reaction of people to this decision. We want a banking commission to take over and reform the regulation. We need to remove the title of "Financial Regulator", as it has been damaged. We also need to identify the role of the Central Bank in this matter.

We want regime change in the banks. We do not believe that any bank executive in the covered institutions should earn more than the Minister, which is around €250,000 when salary and expenses are included, as well as a car. That is serious income as far as 99% of people in this country are concerned. The Minister should bite the bullet and cap executive pay.

Finally, we also need an inspector for Anglo Irish Bank. An article in this morning's Financial Times, written by the newspaper's Ireland correspondent, included a short, sharp summary of the different investigations into Anglo Irish Bank. Basically, it is the cancer at the heart of our banking system. We own it now — it is our bank. The Financial Regulator is undertaking investigations. We have no confidence in the regulator, however. The regulator can make inquiries until the end of time. There is no confidence in this country's system of regulation. I ask the Government to appoint an inspector, as the Labour Party has requested. That should happen soon so that we can start to clean up this mess.

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