Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

No substation manager in the ESB is responsible for the collapse of the Irish economy, nor is the ESB responsible for the collapse of Irish banking. Anglo Irish Bank was at the heart of what went wrong in Irish banking and the economy and we ended up with the State having to take ownership of the bank.

I was surprised to learn yesterday that 70 staff in Anglo Irish Bank had received a pay increase. How much of a pay increase did they receive? I presume that since this matter became knowledge yesterday some inquiries have been made of a bank that is owned by the State as to what level of increase was granted.

Even if there was never a provision in the banking legislation to allow the Government to take action on this matter - there is such provision - does the Government not have a policy on pay in what is broadly described as the commercial State sector and, if so, does this policy not apply to Anglo Irish Bank, as it presumably applies to every other State body? What is the Government's position on the making of pay increases in Anglo Irish Bank.

With regard to the financial results of Anglo Irish Bank, the report for the 15 month period ending December 2009 was expected at the beginning of March 2010 but has not yet been produced. When will it be produced? Since the State owns the bank, will the Taoiseach indicate, at least in ball park figures, what is the extent of the losses incurred by the bank for the 15 month period in question? According to newspaper reports, the bank lost €14 billion in the period and we are informed its losses will be the highest ever reported by an Irish company. Will the Taoiseach confirm that the figure of €14 billion is the extent of the losses? If they are even remotely in that territory, will he try to explain how a company incurring losses of that magnitude can give an increase in pay to its staff?

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