Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I am delighted to be able to speak on the Bill. It is timely, indeed overdue. The purpose of the Bill is to make provision for an effective and expeditious resolution regime for certain credit institutions at the least cost to the State, and goodness knows we have had enough costs, to amend certain enactments and for related matters. This is a wonderful aspiration and I welcome the fact that the Bill is being brought forward and that we are discussing it here. However, it has many shortcomings.

Like previous speakers, I am concerned for Seán Citizen. Ordinary people, workers and families are finding things so difficult. They are aghast at the stories they see reported in the media and elsewhere about the huge mess the banks are in. The banks gave commitments to the late Minister, Brian Lenihan, that were total untruths. Commitments were given but statements had to be dragged out of representatives of the banks and we still do not know if we have heard the complete details of the depth of the crisis, although I feel we may have done so. I do not blame the ordinary staff of the banks. They do a good job and work hard and have suffered much vitriol in recent times from people whose savings were wiped out. We have heard case after case of this. It is important that we have regulations to deal with this crisis because it will, more than likely, happen again. This is not the first time.

People are aghast that no one has been brought to account. We see bonuses being paid out. The late Minister, Brian Lenihan, tried to cap a senior banker's salary at €500,000. He was told he could not do so. The bank had to pay the increased salary under the table or find some other way to pay it. That is disgraceful. I compliment the Taoiseach and his Ministers on introducing a cap on public service salaries. Now that we have almost 100% control of banks we should also introduce a cap on bank salaries. Deputy Ross referred earlier to a person who is CEO of one company and on the board of others and is recommending cutting the wages of ordinary people. He is robbing Peter to pay Paul, although he himself is Paul. This is unfortunate and wrong.

We voted twice on the Lisbon treaty and twice for the Maastricht treaty. Those treaties imposed strict guidelines on inter-bank lending. European banks were at least 50% responsible for what happened in Ireland. There were two sides to the story. When Irish bankers ran out of credit, customers went to European banks and got crazy limits. Now that we are in trouble our so-called friends in Europe will not help us. With friends like those, who needs enemies? They have left us high and dry.

I was not happy with the deal the previous Government made with the IMF. I made that clear at the time. The current Government has adopted the same policy. However, the IMF, at least, gave us a reasonable interest rate. Our European friends are making a healthy profit from us. The figure of €10 billion has been quoted as the amount European banks will make over the course of our repayments, if we ever repay. This debt must be postponed or extended. We do not know what will happen in Greece today. If we do not postpone the repayments we could face an unstructured default, which would be worse. The European banks should be made take their share of the pain. Burden sharing must be imposed.

The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste made elaborate and flamboyant promises. The people did not really believe them, but they created expectations. Deputy Gilmore said it must be Labour's way not Frankfurt's way. What happened to those idle promises? People have been badly let down. There is a seething anger in people who see what is going on. They see us trying to pay this debt when we do not have the money to run our hospitals, maintain our school transport service, keep small rural schools open and functioning or do so many things. Our borrowing is now at 125% of gross national product.

One can find commentators to give any kind of prediction. I welcome Deputy Mathews, who has come into the House, and compliment him on his honesty in all debates. He has a knowledge of banking and much experience.

Promises were made but we have seen total U-turns. I am disappointed in the Taoiseach, who said ever penny would be paid back and senior bondholders would not be touched. He then went to America and met the IMF where he had a rush of blood to the head and said he would consider renegotiation. Of course, our friends in the troika said that was not possible. They said the Taoiseach would have to do what they asked. The west wind in Mayo could not blow pipe-dreams ashore. The Taoiseach was put back in his box very quickly. We must stand up for the ordinary workers and families. They cannot take any more of this.

The bankers' bonus culture prevails. Not one person has been brought before the courts. Last year, the Garda Commissioner said he expected charges to be brought last November. He then retired and went off into the sunset with his pension and there has been no sign of charges. How could the prosecution process take such a long time?

We hear various predictions, and they are all worrying. We must impose burden sharing on speculators, although we need speculators and investors. They themselves are amazed at how they have got away things. Members of the Government, when in opposition, made all kinds of threats but they have simply moved seats in the Chamber and adopted the same policies. The senior bondholders are gamblers who hoped to make a killing and they made killings for a number of years. They have had a bad harvest this year but, unlike them, ordinary people are reaping the ruin. They are speculators and gamblers; that is the nature of their business. They must be held accountable and made to pay because ordinary men, women and children cannot be forced to do so.

I am delighted credit unions are covered by the Bill because worrying stories have emerged about a number of them. We all know that, but for them, many people would not be able to do anything. The Minister for Finance has been encouraging people to spend, including in a radio interview on Sunday. While I welcome the initiatives to attract tourists, including the reduction in VAT from next Friday, people still cannot access funds. The banks do not have a cent and so-called pillar banks are telling us untruths. I compliment Bank of Ireland on the week-long business banking promotion it has run in recent years. Its officials bring in small business owners to try to help them. However, many of the business people have worked hard to earn overdrafts, which have been cancelled overnight. They are called in to renegotiate their overdraft and by the time they leave the branch, their overdraft has been terminated and they have been forced to take a term loan. The banks are then writing up these loans, which have been forced on business people, as new lending as if they had taken an application over the counter for them, which is a total distortion of the facts. This could not be further from the truth. Banks are not lending money.

I heard a woman talking the other day about being unable to purchase a house because of NAMA. Many people are selling houses. I spoke to an auctioneer recently who said that even though many potential house purchasers have secure jobs, they cannot secure loans. Until that happens, ordinary people will be unable to spend like they have been asked to do by the Minister for Finance. One cannot spend what one does not have. That is what happened us. We spent what we did not have wildly, crazily and flamboyantly and now ordinary people, not speculators and investors, are paying the price.

Amendments to the legislation are badly needed because there are gaping holes in it. The greatest gaping hole is people cannot understand that senior bondholders are not even being singed, never mind burned.

See this speech in context