Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

The Deputy will have seen the action taken by the Government last week in respect of AIB, 98% of which is owned by the State. The same cause and effect is not as obvious when it comes to Bank of Ireland, in which the State has only a 15% holding, while Ulster Bank has no relationship with the Irish taxpayer or the ECB, because it is funded internationally. When public interest is in line with Government policy, the public interest directors will ensure the Government's view is understood by all concerned.

I thank the Deputy for his question on whether the regulator signed off on the change in interest calculation policy. I will get the answer for that. We have an independent regulatory system here. It is important that politicians understand the difference between independence on the one hand and where we have to act on the other hand. The key issue is to use common sense to make sure that we have a profitable banking sector where we can recoup the moneys we have put into these banks, but also to ensure fairness. The objective of a reduction in ECB rates is to get lending going again and to get domestic economies across the eurozone going again. It makes no sense if banks do not pass on those rate reductions, either to their commercial customers or their mortgage customers.

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