John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I seek a debate on the credit institutions and their lending practices. I am particularly aware of a practice prevailing in First Active and Ulster Bank, both of which are owned by Royal Bank of Scotland. As we know Royal Bank of Scotland purchased a company in Europe called ABN-AMRO, which had €20 billion of toxic debt. As a result of this acquisition, Royal Bank of Scotland has almost been nationalised in the UK. Unfortunately for the Irish economy within those banks the word is that they are not interested in lending. If those two banks, which have a major sector of the Irish mortgage market at just under 40%, have a policy of not lending because they are building up their tier 1 capital ratios in the UK by taking in deposits here, it means the economy in this State is hurting significantly in that market. I have asked for representatives of Royal Bank of Scotland, First Active and Ulster Bank to appear before the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service. It is more than serious that this is happening.

I agree with the speakers calling for a debate on energy. Pay is not the only factor in costs. While the cost of energy has consistently decreased and given that oil is priced in dollars and the dollar has also weakened, we are not seeing the effect of the global downturn in energy costs, which is essential for us as a small open economy.

I notice there have been many calls for many positive things to be done. Among those are calls for pay cuts for those earning excessive salaries. I am sure these things will happen. However, they should not be predicated by saying that necessary adjustments should not be made until this is done. Necessary adjustments that have been and are being made need to be made. It is very easy to make a decision when one has no choice. Either we make the choice or the choice will be made for us. While we need to get things right, we also need to do what we have to do now.