Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I quote from The Scarlet Pimpernel:

They seek him here, they seek him there

[They] seek him everywhere

Is he in heaven or is he in hell?

That damned elusive Pimpernel

Today, we see the very elusive Scarlet Pimpernel of European banking, Mr. Jean-Claude Trichet, appear, but not appear, before the banking inquiry. He is in Kilmainham and will answer some questions from members of the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis. It is quite amazing that the European Central Bank is displaying such arrogance and disregard for the Irish Government and Irish people. We were told it did not appear before national parliaments, but it does. It appeared before the Italian finance committee and answered questions from and yet it refused to appear before our inquiry. That is the arrogance of the European Central Bank and the Scarlet Pimpernel of that institution, Mr. Jean-Claude Trichet.

The Government has been given, to put it diplomatically, the two fingers not only by the European Central Bank but also by the Irish banks, some of which have said they will not reduce the variable mortgage interest rate despite the Government's promise to deploy the four horses of the apocalypse if they did not. The Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank have said they will not do so. The Government's mettle is now being tested. It is being asked again to stand up for the Irish people and impose the levies or bring in the legislation that would force the banks to reduce the rate. Will the Government do it? The track record shows that it probably will not.

A leading bank CEO is getting paid €365,000 per year, or €7,000 per week or €1,000 per day, for doing a job in the same bank he was in charge of when the whole thing fell apart. We will not name him.