Seanad debates

Thursday, 30 May 2013

11:10 am

Photo of Sean BarrettSean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I note today that the EU Commission has urged the Government to confront a re-emergence of the lax lending standards in the banking system. The Commission has warned that it has found fresh signs of these lax standards in the recent past. I have asked the Leader to bring to the attention of the Government and the EU Commission that the Seanad has taken a strong stand on this. This is why No. 25 is on the Order Paper. Under the Bill we propose to separate casino banking from utility banking and to require banks to raise more money themselves and to have a higher capitalisation ratio such that this time around they will not be gambling with our money but with their own. The last time it cost us €64 billion upfront and there will probably be a final bill of approximately €90 billion. We should issue a warning from this House to the banks that they must reform and that we will not pay out a second time.

The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Hayes, has arranged for the promoters of the Bill, No. 25 on the Order Paper, to meet him and his officials in a few weeks' time and we will be pushing the matter at that stage. However, this is an area where the Seanad is alive to what is happening in Irish banking. We should commend to the Government what the EU Commission has said. We must reform Irish banking. The five years of disastrous performance that we have seen has damaged the lives of everyone in the country and the House should be willing to take a strong stand in this regard.

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