Seanad debates

Thursday, 2 March 2017

10:30 am

Photo of Gerard CraughwellGerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This morning as I was driving towards Dublin I was listening to the CEO of Allied Irish Banks, AIB, trumpeting the tremendous profits made by the bank and declaring that it was about to pay a dividend of €250 million to the State, the largest shareholder. While that in itself is good, let us examine it more closely. It is the most cynical move I have ever seen in my life. In fact, it is disgusting that this organisation trumpets its tremendous profits, given that they were gained on the backs of citizens who were thrown out of their houses onto the streets. Many years ago I lost my house to a bank and know the pain and suffering involved. I also know how long it takes to get over a repossession. I am still paying off my debts. I know what it is like and was appalled to hear the CEO talk casually about how the bank still had some distressed mortgages on its books which it would sell on, not to a vulture fund but to a financial institution. However, as the Leader and everyone else in this House knows, highly distressed mortgages are not sold on to entities that want to allow families to remain in their homes. The bank is selling them to kill off the debts on its balance sheet. The citizens of this country have been good. They have helped to rebuild it. In no uncertain terms, the recovery is due largely to the efforts of the last Government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party. It put us through hell, but at the end of the day, we are seeing the economy recover. It is now time for the banks that were saved to start being good corporate citizens by recognising the pain and suffering they inflicted. AIB went as far as trying to diddle people out of money by not passing on tracker mortgage rate reductions. I ask the Leader to organise a debate with the relevant Ministers on what constitutes good corporate citizenship on the part of the banks and financial institutions. I would like to send a message to the CEO of the AIB to the effect that he should go away and learn how to show a little citizenship and humility and thank the people of the country who saved him, his bank and his job.

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