Rónán Mullen (Independent)

It seems to have gone unnoticed that the Government did score one victory in its joust with banking executives yesterday, namely, that it managed to convey to the public, through the media, how deeply disappointed it is at the awkwardness of the banks. We have been told that the Government is "infuriated" by their attitude. It is good for a Government which is not doing what it should be doing to succeed in at least conveying to the public that it is on the side of the victims in this and is infuriated on their behalf. Senator Darragh O'Brien is right to put the challenge to the Government today. It is simply not good enough to ask the regulator whether he requires additional powers. The business of Government is to propose, before the Oireachtas, that the regulator be given certain powers and then to let the regulator use those powers if he sees fit. The response of the Government on this issue has been very weak.

Perhaps the reason the banking executives are able to eyeball the Government so successfully is that they are being paid so much more than the Government members they meet. It is easy to eyeball and talk down to people when one's salary is so much higher than theirs; it improves one's attitude and heightens one's sense of authority in a given situation. On that basis, some of us here would be better equipped to eyeball than others.