John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I support the Senators who spoke in connection with regulation and legislation concerning the banking situation. I agree with Senator Callely when he said there are many thousands in the banking sector who have done nothing wrong. However, it is a question of dealing with white collar crime, which is not victimless and can affect families, people and nations very seriously.

When a person's savings are wiped out by virtue of the fact he or she has invested in a bank, which would have been seen as a prudent investment, or when the State's credibility is called into question by certain actions, we must ask ourselves whether we would be better off with the system that operates in the United States. There is no doubt that had this happened in the United States, people would be taken away in handcuffs. I do not wish that any person would be in handcuffs but I believe that had they the fear——