Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am aware of the commitment made by the Minister for Finance on Committee Stage on foot of my amendment and I welcome the fact that a technical paper will be forthcoming but this amendment goes further and requires a change in law and that a report would be produced within six months on the options available to restrict banks from carrying forward losses against taxable profits.

The Government's position is very clear, namely, that the policy is the policy but what I cannot understand is why the Government is continuing with this course of action. I have been fair to the Government in my previous contribution in acknowledging that the 2014 change was to ensure no additional capital was provided to the banks. That was the argument that was put forward. There is a certain validity to that although I disagreed with it at the time. However, there is none today. No argument exists in terms of AIB and Bank of Ireland. The Minister is asking Members to vote down an amendment that would outline the direction of the Government's policy, which would be that banks should pay their fair share of tax. I cannot agree to that because this is a scandal. Massive amounts of profits are being collected by the banks on the back of extraordinary interest rates that are twice the European average, and on the back of the tracker mortgage scandal, which they will have to pay back.

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