Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Deputy David Stanton made a point with which I agree, making reference to the need to ensure consistency of approach across financial institutions and the need for an overarching bank protocol. The banks and financial institutions each have an individual legal identity and may have different approaches in certain circumstances. There is a need for consistency within the banks because I have heard reports that when two people in financial difficulty approach their local bank managers, the response in one part of the country is better than in another part. There is a particular need for consistency, expertise and awareness of how to deal appropriately with individuals genuinely unable to pay, doing their best in genuine difficulty and who, if they are given some initial assistance, have a reasonable prospect of working their way out of the difficulty if new arrangements of a practical nature can be agreed.

I refer to the contribution of Deputy Ross, who said the legislation was dominated by bank thinking, which is curious because the Irish Banking Federation representatives expressed opposition to various parts of the legislation and appear to be unhappy with it. He suggested the legislation should break the power of the banks. That is a nice populist notion-----

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