John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister coming into the House to address this matter of extreme public concern. Many people are perplexed by what they see as Government inaction on what is viewed as excessive pay and pension entitlements which are paid from the public purse in particular, but not solely, within the banking sector. It applies across the board within the public sector and in the political ranks. I seek clarification on the reason the Government has not addressed this concern to date, particularly when people in the banks who have been supported by the taxpayer and bailed out by the Government are being paid well in excess of the pay cap agreed. One salary is reported to be as high as ¤830,000, which is ridiculous, and pensions of ¤500,000 and ¤650,000 within the banking sector are being paid out of the public purse.

I implore the Minister to intervene in this regard, particularly as many workers such as the Waterford Crystal workers have lost their pension entitlements through no fault of their own. I cite two examples of where there were interventions. The Government chose last year, rightly so, to put a referendum to the people to address the issue of judges' pay, which was carried. The other example, with which I am very familiar, dates back to 1985 when the then Minister, Des O'Malley, enacted emergency legislation in the Houses to enable the Government of the day to appoint an administrator to the PMPA group of companies. I implore the Minister to address this issue in the public interest because it is causing great anxiety and distress.