Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I join the Leader in paying tribute to the former Senator, Mr. Willie Farrell. Members will pay tribute to him at a future date, to be decided by the Leader, when his family can be present. We join the expression of sympathy by the Leader of the House on his passing.

We spent a great deal of time yesterday discussing the banking situation and I wish to return to that subject. Today, we discovered that the Irish Nationwide Building Society paid its chief executive officer €221,000 for the final four months of his term of office. The pay for that period exceeded the Government's pay cap for top bankers as calculated on an annualised basis. It could be argued that the pay of the chief executive of the Bank of Ireland also breached the Government's guidelines. What is it about bankers and the banking system that makes the Government so inept in implementing its policy? The Government can implement its policy on medical cards every day. I met a man this week who suffers from bowel cancer. He was told that if his cancer was terminal, he would get his medical card. It had been taken from him. I regularly meet parents of children with special needs. There is no difficulty calculating their needs and income, and withdrawing special needs assistance. What is it about bankers that makes the Government so inept at implementing its policy?