John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I could not agree more with Senators O'Donnell and Kelly. This is the most pressing and most vexed issue throughout the country. The people are looking on in awe, flabbergasted at the manner in which the bankers in this country are riding the public bareback while the Government looks on, saying its hands are tied, it is helpless and there is nothing it can do. That is not true. If there was a political will a way would be found to deal with this. Everybody knows that is the reality. I can offer a precedent. Mr. Richie Boucher might think he is working in a commercial entity. He might think he is not a socialist. However, as he has ¤4 billion invested in socialism, he is into socialism in a big way, whether he knows it.

I have received letters from a family who have been issued with repossession threats from Mr. Boucher's Bank of Ireland because of a lack of ¤5,000 in alleged arrears. It is absurd. The Minister for Finance should come before the House and explain why nothing can be done. A precedent was set in 1985 when the then Minister, Dessie O'Malley, faced down his own Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, and introduced emergency legislation to put the PMPA group of companies, including a building society and a provident society, into administration overnight. Of course it can be done. We should not be writing to the bankers, asking them to hand back a few bob. We should take them to heel. The taxpayers of this country have ownership of these banks; so has the Government but it certainly is not in control. The Government, the Cabinet, this Seanad and all public officials are a laughing stock as long as we continue to allow the bankers of this country to thumb their nose at us. Richie Boucher did everything at the finance committee last week except give it the two fingers.