Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

One payment of €51,000 is due. I do not accept the Tánaiste's argument which he has also used in respect of senior public servants, claiming he has to sit on his hands. I ask again what he will do about that payment. Twenty-two of the 50 senior personnel in Anglo Irish Bank are still within the bank. I reiterate for the Tánaiste, that of that 22, 19 take home a salary in excess of €175,000. What will he do about that? He and his colleagues are quick to attack people on welfare payments, accusing those out of work of making a lifestyle choice. The Tánaiste is offering some lifestyle opportunity to officials and senior employees in a toxic bank that has brought us to the brink of ruin. He allows them to walk away with salaries in excess of €175,000. The rhetoric of Government commitment to winding down Anglo Irish Bank and the Tánaiste's words of anger in respect of that bank hold no water. What will he do about the senior employees in the bank and their runaway wages? How can he explain to the public a Government strategy that targets people on welfare and low pay and takes a hands-off attitude to fat cats and those who have brought such tremendous hardship to the country?

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