Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

The purpose of our motion is to get the banking and regulatory systems on a proper footing. A couple of things have disturbed me this evening. I see that Bank of Ireland has appointed Mr. Richie Boucher as its CEO, which is an internal appointment. We do not know of any cap on his salary. We propose external appointments, which do not send out the wrong signal, although this is nothing personal against Mr. Boucher. It would appear to international markets that we are putting people into the top tiers of the banks who were involved in the situation as it developed. That sends out the wrong signal. The Minister for Finance needs to clarify that point. Taxpayers' money has been spent on the guarantee scheme and €3.5 billion is going into the recapitalisation of the Bank of Ireland. That is all we know at the moment.

See this speech in context