James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I am not contradicting my argument. This is typical waffle uttered by Fianna Fáil Ministers. The Minister of State is not tuned into the legislation. The Government's actions vis-á-vis the Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks were a huge blow to public sector workers, with the ensuing pension levy controversy set to run and run. It is incomprehensible to low and middle income workers that their money is disappearing into a bottomless pit. Deputy Noonan highlighted that the shares of both banks have almost hit rock bottom.

The National Pensions Reserve Fund was set up in 2001 using the hard earned money of taxpayers as a rainy day fund for a projected increase in the age profile of the country. The fund was worth €16.4 billion at the end of December 2008 but there were signs it was worth less than all the contributions of taxpayers since its inception eight years ago. Given the fall in world stock markets, the value of the fund, less the raided €4 billion, stands at only €11.9 billion. In a move calculated to cloud the issue, as the Government parties always try to do, they appear to expect that by funding the banks through the fund, the investment will not be considered to be spending under the EU accounting rules. It will technically, therefore, not break the rules by adding to the county's debt burden. However, such a move will not go far enough to restore confidence in the economy abroad and will add to the burden of those least able to pay among our public sector workers.

How does the Minister think that a low income civil servant, forced to hand over €450 of his or her meagre €15,000 salary, felt this morning when he or she read that Allied Irish Banks, which was bailed out to the tune of €3.5 billion, recorded its first loss in Ireland since the group was set up in 1966? Shockingly, the bank made an operating loss of €121 million after writing off €1.3 billion in losses on loans, 81% of which related to property and construction. Shades of cronyism and tents rise before one's eyes when the words "property" and "construction" are mentioned.

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