Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tens of thousands of homeowners woke up this morning to learn of yet another interest rate hike this time from AIB and the EBS. It is a sneaky rise when the ECB is likely to cut interest rates next week. It is even more galling for homeowners when they followed the proceedings yesterday where Richie Boucher was awarded a remuneration package of €843,000. Where is the Labour Party in all of this? A few years ago the policy of the Tánaiste's party was that the cap for bankers' pay should be €250,000 in line with the then Minister for Finance's income. A number of his backbenchers made a big stand about that this week and confronted this issue vigorously. It seemed at one point that he was going to make a stand once and for all on these issues but then, interestingly, yesterday the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, who is seated behind the Tánaiste, confirmed to all of us that this was not the Minister, Deputy Noonan's decision, Fine Gael's decision but was a Government decision. Can the Tánaiste confirm that he signed off on that decision at the Economic Management Council in Cabinet? Was the Labour Party in full agreement with this decision? How can the Tánaiste justify the extraordinary concern for those at the top of the banking system like Richie Boucher who was party to the crisis we face-----

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