Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I ask the Minister to listen to what is being said in the House, particularly to what Deputy Burton said some moments ago. It may not be what I am looking for but she suggested ministerial level pay or something slightly above that, as proposed by the other amendment before the House, or perhaps something marginally above that again.

I am prepared to compromise and the Minister has heard the same from other Deputies. We are not trying to shoehorn him into an untenable position. We can have a conversation about this and arrive at a reasonable proposal that will enjoy the support of the entire House. That would be an immensely more practical solution than the proposed scientific examination. One must ask whether the comparable scientific examination takes into consideration that many people in these other industries are also grossly overpaid, as the previous speaker mentioned. People lost the run of themselves during the so-called Celtic tiger era. Some bankers and other characters were going around like emperors of old, for goodness sake. The only thing missing was people carrying them on a grand seat at shoulder height. It was ridiculous. They were like peacocks strutting around.

Did the group which made the scientific examination consider that the massive salaries and huge bonuses those executives were getting might well have encouraged the greed that led us into the crisis we are in now? I do not hang everything on the bankers' necks. There was a deregulatory regime, speculators and the Government looking the other way while it all happened. However, I want the bankers to carry their fair share and I want all of us to get real about the situation and bring it back to practical levels.

We do not ask that their salaries be reduced to the level of a Deputy's salary. I would like them to be reduced to my salary, which is not that of a Deputy. It is worth advising the House, and the Minister will know this, that the Sinn Féin Deputies and Senator take the average industrial wage. We survive on that. If we can do it why can the bankers not do the same? I do not even ask them to come to that position. We are prepared to compromise and to be reasonable in this matter.

A previous speaker was right. The biggest cheer of the night at the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis, judging from the part I saw on television, was when the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, said he was going to hold the bankers to account and rein them in. I am sure there would be a cheer at the same decibel level from this House if the Minister were to exercise his power, rein them in and deal with them. If we miss this chance today in the Dáil I have no doubt the gate will be open for them again. I do not see the Minister or his Government making any serious attempt to rein in these characters. Here is the chance to do it, to give public leadership and be fair and reasonable in this matter, once and for all. Even doing that is to be unfair, but none the less my party will go along with it in this case.

I hope we can go back to the good old-fashioned level of honesty within banks. I do not refer to quills or pocket watches or that kind of detail. We will settle for less than that but we want the honesty and integrity that went with that era. The bankers could demonstrate they are prepared to go there if they agreed to take the kind of salary cap we wish to impose.

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