Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

It is a very spurious argument to say that because we saw a few banks leave, we should not consider taking any measures to put taxes on the superprofits that the remaining vulture funds and banks are making. They are doing so at the expense of the incredible hardship mortgage holders are suffering who have seen vulture funds charging 7% and 8% interest, which means thousands of additional euro.

Even the mainstream banks are hiking interest rates and making super profits. The banks that left did so in the tax environment the Minister is defending. They went because, frankly, they have no loyalty to their customers. They do not give a damn about them. They just left because it suited them. Is it the idea that we pander to entities that have no interest in their customers while their customers are being absolutely hammered, as they are at the moment, and not impose some kind of tax on the super profits they are making to use those revenues to protect mortgage holders who are being crucified?

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