Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The past month has been an extraordinary culmination of bad practices and a political ideology and philosophy which has funnelled and promoted greed and which, in many ways, opens a new debate about the morality of Irish life.

I am not a millionaire, nor am I rich or poor. Like many of us here, I need a bank. The protection of the taxpayer must be of paramount importance, along with ensuring a properly functioning credit system to keep our economy going. Unlike any other party in the State, Fine Gael has always put people first and will continue to do so. The public interest must be served by the banks, although they have not done that in the past. They have not been accountable and have not treated people fairly but rather with contempt. As Senator Leyden said, it is not the ordinary members of staff in the banks, for whom I have much time, but the people who direct them from on high. They have promulgated activities which brought us to this point of financial instability.

We talk about the need for transparency and responsibility. Will we see an end to the reckless practices and irresponsible behaviour of the banks where people were pushing packages and measures in order to receive dividends and remuneration?

I support the call by Senator Fitzgerald and other Senators for a question and answer session. We have questions which have not been answered in the explanatory memorandum to the legislation or in the scheme itself. This morning Deputy Bruton spoke in the Dáil about enabling powers. How will the Minister for Finance use his powers? As many Senators said, this is the first step but what happens next?

I agree with Senator Butler that the banks have an obligation to come clean about their loan books and the level of bad debts and toxicity. They have breached trust. We are using taxpayers' money here. As politicians we keep forgetting that taxpayers and citizens are people. They are not mythical but are real people who are being forced to pay out more as a consequence of the budget and 11 years of mismanagement.

We are bailing out the banks yet again. The Irish citizen is coming to the aid of the banks. I will put it more simply than Senator Paschal Donohoe. The few are the well-paid corporate Turks and the many are all of us who are not rich and who are just about surviving. We are being called in to make a leap of faith. We are making a leap of faith, as is the Minister of State, because we need the State to continue running. I know the ideology of the Minister of State is similar to that of many on this side of the House and that this is foreign to his way of thinking.

Corporate responsibility and morality must be brought back into society. It is against this background we have this motion before us. There have been no resignations from the banks, no apologies and no signs of contriteness. There has been nothing. They have not even accepted responsibility. A couple of weeks ago when the story first broke an e-mail was sent out on behalf of a certain bank as if it was business as normal. It is not and cannot ever be. We need to prevent the abuse that has taken place and safeguard taxpayers.

I wish to put some questions to the Minister of State. Who are the people who will be appointed to the proposed panel and from what sector will they come? Why have we not been given more information on this? How do we arrive at the cost to us, which seems low to me and others? I hope we will not have an old pals' Act and a cosy cartel where the banks can appoint A, B and C and they will look after themselves. I agree with Senator Leyden. Perhaps we should consider having worker directors in banks, who will serve our interests.

We on this side of the House will always do what we believe is right for the people. It is the banks, however, who have got us into this chaos and who have put us at risk. We can blame outside forces and other events, but we have had 11 years of boom and bloom with a Government that has failed to put checks and balances in place. As a result, banks are now squeezing small enterprises and businesses, sole traders, small farmers and ordinary citizens with mortgage and business costs. We must never allow the banks hold the gun to the people's heads again.