Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

All of us are disturbed at what has been happening in some of our financial institutions. However, we need to keep matters in perspective. The point about the people who received publicity in the past week is essentially that they got caught. It is not necessarily the case that everything else is all right. I noticed an article in one of the newspapers yesterday headlined, "Crocodile tears mask a culture of greed", and today, in the same newspaper, a director of corporate governance talks about the effects of very low standards in public and corporate life. We need to be aware that not all forms of corporate greed necessarily involve either legal or ethical wrongdoing as such. It is shocking that a chairman, chief executive and director of a newspaper should receive annual increases last year of 40%, 50% and 67%. If Senator O'Toole's people put in such claims there would, rightly, be outrage. We need a good example from the top. It is lucky that the little people have more sense.