Alex White (Labour)

It would be an odd way to proceed, under Standing Orders, if we proposed a sub-committee on banking to be set up from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service. How could that work? Clearly, it is a matter for that committee to set up a sub-committee. If the House is now in a position whereby it can establish sub-committees over the heads of committees, as it were, then Senator O'Toole is right in saying that it is an issue that needs to be addressed.

I appreciate the Leader communicating to leaders of the other groups in the House before the Order of Business that statements on banking are to be discussed tomorrow. The Leader has indicated we will not debate the matter until we have sight of the Government scheme, which is reasonable and which I appreciate. It would be odd to proceed with the debate without having sight of the specifics of the Government's intentions.

I agree with the comments of Senators Fitzgerald and O'Toole that some humility is called for from the banking community, especially its leaders. We have all suffered from sleep deprivation in recent days given the onerous task which was before us. However, I had to rub my eyes when I heard that one of the individuals concerned made a series of demands regarding what the Government should do with universal child benefits, which he believed should be attacked, State pensions, and the abolition of medical cards for those aged over 70. This proposal comes from one of the people who was saved and whose bank was in some difficulty last week. If this person has trouble with his day job, which appeared to be the case last week, perhaps he could have a future in the entertainment industry as a comedian of some sort.