Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I ask the Deputy to mind his own business for a while. We need to cop on to ourselves because we are on the edge. I am amazed by the telephone calls I receive from people who want to know why they are required to pay when banks are getting away with it. These are not uneducated people. They are the so-called top people in our society. It does not sound fair because it is not fair. We must reject this proposal if only for the sake of sending a message of fairness.

The Government cannot legitimately cut the minimum wage by €1 in the same week that people are being paid bonuses. I do not know whether the bank staff in question are paid on commission but it is crazy that a banking system would pay bonuses for increasing loan volumes. Any other business pays bonuses when it makes a profit. For these reasons, I fully support the amendment and ask that we restore a sense of fairness to our society.

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