Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

They are the ordinary tellers and managers who kept society and the economy moving. They are also the ones who probably gave some people hope in their darkest hours when they went looking for a loan from the bank.

Normally, when there are major job losses in any sector, the Government will say the usual words of sympathy and that something must be done. In this case, something must be done because the Government owns the banks and, as an employer, it has a direct responsibility to the staff. What will the Government do to ensure this jobs cull does not take place or is alleviated to the greatest extent possible? The staff affected will find it difficult to get other employment in the financial services sector. What will the Government do to ensure they are retrained for alternative employment?

This morning a party was cancelled. Yesterday, however, we had another party at Government Buildings where the Government boasted about the implementation of a new structure for the Irish banking system, the creation of pillar banks and the mergers of AIB, EBS, IBRC and INBS. Not only is the Government standing over the job losses at AIB, it is boasting about them on page nine of this morning's newspapers as a crowning achievement of its first year in office. That is a shame. The report goes on to state the Government is ahead of schedule in its efforts to shrink the size of the covered banks. Not only is the Government not doing anything to stop the job losses, it is actually congratulating itself on it. This is a shameful day. The banking sector's problems are difficult, maybe intractable, but it is not good enough to boast about significant job losses in the sector.

Accordingly, I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that the Minister for Finance be brought into the House to discuss these job losses, his response to them and any alleviation measures-----