Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also listened to earlier speakers. I will refer to the recapitalisation of the banks but will speak generally about the scheme and the current position. I acknowledge the swift response of the Government to intervene to protect our economy and the stability of our financial institutions. I also acknowledge we are the victims of the global financial problems.

However, I do not hold a torch for the banks under any circumstances. They have become arrogant and have lost my trust and that of the people of Ireland. I am concerned about how they can regain our trust. They lost our trust because they forgot the old fashioned ethos of looking after the small person, the ordinary depositor. They wanted to line the pockets of big investors. They forgot that Ireland is small and made up of mainly ordinary people and not the small percentage of big investors. The banks lost their way and until such time as they change their practice and quality of lending and think small again I will find it difficult to place my trust in them.

I wish to refer to the charge that will apply to the banks. It will be calculated each quarter and it will be €1 billion for the institutions covered by the scheme. I am concerned about a reference to the scheme by the Minister of State, namely, that the aim of it will be minimise the cost to the taxpayer. I do not like what that might imply. I would like the Minister of State to indicate what he means by minimising the cost. It suggests that some charge may be borne by the taxpayer. I want reassurance from him that the charge will not be passed on to the taxpayer. That is an important aspect of scheme.

Reference has been made to the regulatory authority and that the regulator did not do his work and was not regulating in the proper way. The role of the regulator has received a bad press. Hopefully the regulator's role will change from hereon and that he will be able to monitor the functions of the banks in a more stringent way.

On the issue of representation on the boards of the banks, what is the composition of these boards? What will be the role of the non-executive directors who will be appointed through the panel referred to by the Minister of State? I hope they will not have a passive role. How will they report to the Minister? It is important to find out that information.

On the question of reviewing the charge, Senator Bacik referred to the phrase "may review the charge". I do not like the word "may" because it leaves the issue wide open. The provision should be stricter than that. Provision should be made for constant reviews, monitoring and restructuring of ways of assessing the banks' quality of lending, risk experience, funding costs and liquidity. Provision in these areas was not spelt out by the Minister of State. I would like him to respond on the points regarding the charge, the regulator, the representation on the banks' boards and the role of their members, and to reassure us that the taxpayer will not have to carry any of that charge.