Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is not acting irrationally because it is the job of the board and its executives to make the bank as much money as possible. A bank makes money by taking money in from people, giving them as low a rate of interest as possible on their deposits, lending it out while charging as high an interest rate as possible and then squeezing and squeezing as much as necessary to get that money back. That is the banking model.

I do not blame Bank of Ireland for acting the way it is. I wish it would act like the other banks, including the commercial banks, but the reality is that it is not. The bank’s executive team took a clear line, which is on the record of the finance committee, when it said it was not engaging in debt write-down. The practitioners on the street are saying it is dragging its heels. I welcome the Tánaiste's statement that no bank should be allowed to do this. However, we have a bank that is dragging its heels and publicly stating it will do other than the Government’s stated intention, which is debt write-down, as stated by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, during the debate on the insolvency legislation last year.

What is the Government going to do about this? There is solid evidence that Bank of Ireland is dragging its heels. This has a knock-on effect on families who have loans with the bank, who are being squeezed. What can the Government tangibly do about this in the coming weeks and months?

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