Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I suppose the fact that a woman was jailed for two years today made national headlines because it was such an unusual occurrence. What was also unusual about this case was that she got this sentence for robbing an old aged pensioner. The Minister of State probably saw this news because it happened in our county of Cork. Most people will agree that if people carry out despicable acts on the elderly, they deserve to be punished.

The amazing thing about this is that an entire roomful of elderly old aged pensioners were robbed today, not by way of a car smash, but with a fountain pen in AIB headquarters, but nobody was trotted out in handcuffs or jailed as a result. Thousands of people were robbed, elderly people who trusted what was a blue chip institution and put their money into the bank. They did what the Government advised to provide for themselves in their old age and ensure they would have a pension. However, they have been told one after the other that there is no money for them and their pensions are gone. The woman in Cork got two years, but the bankers are going home, having barely escaped being hit by an egg. Where is the justice in that?

Sometimes the question is asked why people are so angry. They are angry for many reasons. They are angry that no one has been held to account, no one has been brought out in handcuffs and no one has been brought before the courts. They are angry that those who robbed them did as Bob Dylan said, robbed them with a fountain pen. None of them has been brought before the courts. Saying sorry is not good enough.

People are equally angry that the Government has the opportunity to put in place a system that will serve the people, but it is refusing to take that opportunity. We have the opportunity to put in place an entirely new system, but we are refusing to do it. Young and not so young couples who have traded up their houses are worried that they could lose their homes in the coming months because they cannot pay their mortgages. These are the people who have lost their jobs. People who have retained their jobs are worried because they are locked into fixed interest rate mortgages which they cannot afford because the Government has decided to take money from them as it can no longer afford to pay the country's debts.

If we are to bail out the banks, why do we not tell them they must not take houses from people but must allow them to change to a variable mortgage without threatening to impose a colossal penalty on them? Why do we not insist on this? Why do we not demand of the banks what we would like for our citizens? Why do we not insist bankers behave like human beings and treat people properly? After all, it is the citizens who are bailing out the bankers. Why do we not demand they treat people properly? Why do we not encourage people to go to what is now the people's bank to look for loans? We are not doing that because the Government, as Deputy Beverley Flynn has just said - who would know better - said that is a last resort.

We have reached the last resort and we are bailing out the banks. The people are very angry that bankers are not getting two years in jail for robbing them with a fountain pen, like the woman in Cork deservedly got today. Why are we not demanding that people are brought to justice?

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