Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter on the banking sector. I welcome the Minister of State, whom I have not met before but whose reputation proceeds him. I congratulate him on his appointment to the Department of Finance.

The Minister of State will be well aware that we need a major debate on the role of the banking sector. I say that in the context of two issues, the first of which relates to the credit squeeze affecting regular customers of banks and business people. Banks seem to put profit before people. They are only interested in making profits and in cutting cost margins to do so. The Minister of State will agree this comes after a period of time in which banks were like lobbyists trying to give away money. They wrote to people offering different types of credit and incentives to buy cars, to go on holidays and to extend their homes but now they have changed their cant from, "We want to give you money" to "We need to get money from you". In many ways it is like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in that there is a chocolate bar for everybody but it is then taken away.

Why is pressure being put on people when not long ago banks were writing to them to give them money? Banks need customers but they have raised interest rates and restricted access to overdrafts and other types of credit. As the Minister of State will know, this is having a profound impact on consumers. How does the Minister for Finance propose to involve the Financial Regulator in this crisis in the banking sector, which is affecting people?

The decision by Bank of Ireland to cut its staff share allocation from 6% to 3% is unjustified and driven by greed. The staff of Bank of Ireland have been treated very badly and unfairly. I say this as a customer of the bank with an account. The staff have made significant sacrifices in the past decade. Almost 2,100 jobs have been lost through its voluntary severance plan, along with outsourcing, relocation and the closure of branches. It has reached the stage in some banks where when one walks in, there is a queue out the door because of a lack of staff. I pay tribute to the staff of the Bank of Ireland. They are its most valued ambassadors and the company does not realise this. I very much like going to the bank in Wilton or University College Cork because the staff there are friendly, welcoming and provide a great service.

Why do the banks treat staff and customers badly? I look forward to the Minister of State's reply. We must have confidence in our banking sector. We need to generate money in the economy to sustain it. I do not blame the Irish Bank Officials Association for serving strike notice on Bank of Ireland in July. The staff have been treated shabbily. The banks need customers and staff and they need to improve morale. What plans does the Government have to engage with the banking sector and especially with the Financial Regulator?