Maurice Hayes (Independent)

I also congratulate the investigative journalists who exposed what was going on in AIB, although we must remember that one man's investigative journalism is another man's invasion of privacy. There is a delicate balance to be struck. There are hundreds of people, of whom I might be one, who went into the bank and obtained a bank draft and will never be able to prove they were overcharged. It is wrong that the bank should be allowed to retain the profits it made through this. I strongly support the proposal of Senator Brian Hayes that it should be made to donate an amount to the Dormant Accounts Fund Disbursements Board or some charitable organisation.

The main reason I rose, however, was to associate myself with those who deplored what is going on in Iraq, as demonstrated by the photographs we have seen in the newspapers. These photographs might play the same role as the iconic photograph of the little burning girl in Vietnam which changed public opinion about the Vietnam war in the USA. The US President will be in this country meeting representatives of the EU. We hold the Presidency of the Union and I urge the Leader to ask the Taoiseach to use that occasion, as Taoiseach of this country and representative of the Presidency, to express our abhorrence of what is going on and how counterproductive it is in terms of world politics.