Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I asked a bunch of questions to which the Minister gave the same answer, namely, under the relationship framework, the State does not intervene in the day-to-day operations of the bank or management decisions on commercial matters. We put money in continually, but we are not bothered by jobs being shed. The Government could change this relationship if it wanted to.

Since we paid to bail out the banks, there has been a loss of approximately 4,000 jobs at AIB. It has also outsourced a number of its functions, including cleaning, catering, IT and training. We are meant to own it. The State could intervene to prevent these job losses and the cheapening of labour.

There is a proposal to transfer the ADM section to an Indian company. AIB may keep some of its staff in Ireland, but there is a legitimate concern that it will outsource more functions abroad. It has already happened in the finance sector. The Minister should have an interest in this matter because there have been serious problems with outsourcing IT in other banks, leading to months of delays in addressing consumer complaints.

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