Seanad debates

Tuesday, 14 December 2010

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed)

 

8:00 pm

Photo of David NorrisDavid Norris (Independent)

I will be opposing the Bill for reasons I have made clear on the Order of Business and throughout the day when other measures were being discussed. With regard to the minimum wage, I was concerned because I had been contacted by people involved in the restaurant business and by people in unions. As far as I am concerned, the situation has been satisfactorily ironed out and I have no difficulty in voting against a cut in the minimum wage.

I know there is an issue about comparability with Europe and all the rest but I make this comparison, which is a devastating one. Consider the people in Allied Irish Banks and the €40 million in bonuses, which happened with the clear collusion of the directors of the bank in a disgusting, underhand manner. The entire proceeding was front-loaded and fast-tracked to deceive the public, and the Government appears to have been complicit in this. How can we ask people on the lowest possible wage to take a cut when we have people at these vast salaries sticking their snouts in the trough once more? I cannot stomach that and I will not.

I will give one other figure and leave it at that. I was listening to the news broadcast this evening and, exactly as I suspected and had said, I found we are being punished as a country for being good citizens of Europe by our alleged comrades and colleagues in Europe. Other countries have received the kind of assistance which is provided under articles of the treaty intended to provide emergency funding for countries in particular and extraordinary difficulties. None of the other countries have been charged an additional premium yet we have been charged an additional 3% by the financial sources that helped flood this country with easy and cheap money. They alleged they had stress tested our banks and that the banks were perfectly all right. I find that an outrage against the decent people of Ireland. In these circumstances, we expect the lowest paid people to take a cut. No thank you, I am voting against, and I am glad to have the opportunity to put this on the record.

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