Shane Ross (Independent)

The responses given by Ministers in respect of amendments to Bills of this nature contain a common thread. I find such responses disappointing. The common thread to which I refer relates to the "hands off" attitude to the banks. I have spoken about this matter so often that I sometimes exhaust myself with the monotony of what I say. However, I cannot understand why the Government has not decided to dictate to the banks what they should do in the short term, at the very least.

The amendments under discussion are not particularly demanding. They state that anyone working for a bank who will be paid out of the National Pensions Reserve Fund should not receive more than €250,000. Why can the Minister of State not indicate that this is a fine proposal and that those involved will not be paid more than that amount? For some reason, the Government is frightened with regard to making a decision on this matter. It does not want to be seen, as the Minister of State indicated, to be interfering in the macro or micro activities of the banks. The Government should interfere because the activities of those who operate at the top levels in our banks are rotten.

The Minister of State said that CIROC is due to report next week and that the Government will cherry-pick from that report. As far as I am aware, there is no commitment that the Minister for Finance will do what CIROC asks of him. It is obvious what needs to be done. In the first instance, those at the top in our banks must be removed.