Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is galling to hear what I have heard tonight. When I think of AIB, the first thing I think of is who the important people are. They are those who have been good, loyal, true, respectable customers of AIB over the years. I am talking about small business people, small farmers and young couples who, starting out in life, took out a mortgage and who were dutiful, honest and straight. During the crash they kept going. They went without to pay their mortgages every month. They put their shoulders to the wheel. They kept putting in and scrounging and scraping to keep their nose clean with AIB.

I hear that if the bank is sold now, the people who will make a great deal of money are the big rich people within the banking sector. Let us consider those who lost their shirts to AIB. Who bailed out AIB? Let us consider the people who worked within the banking sector and who, instead of receiving dividends, took AIB shares. Eventually, those shares became worthless and they lost their shirts again. These are the people I would like to think of tonight. They are the people who made AIB and they are now hearing of this proposal. Not enough is being said for the young couples, farmers or business people who are struggling while trying to honour their debts. They are being forgotten about. There were bailouts for everyone but there was no bailout for the ordinary, small, honest, genuine customer of AIB or any of the other banks either.

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