David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to be in front of Senator Bacik because the first thing I want to do is congratulate her on being nominated and awarded Irish woman lawyer of the year. She is a terrific lawyer who has been immensely courageous ever since she was a student in Trinity at a time when it was neither popular nor profitable to lead movements towards the advancement of abortion. I honour my colleague and suggest that the House does likewise.

I also wish to raise an extraordinary document that I have received from Allied Irish Banks, pimping, prying and squinting into every conceivable aspect of my financial life. I have no idea what this is. It is supposed to be something to do with European law but it looks to me as though Allied Irish Banks is looking for a hell of a lot more information than it is entitled to under the law. I wish to register a protest against this appalling, creeping bureaucracy. Apparently, I am a PEP, a politically exposed person. It is all about money laundering. What kind of imbeciles do they think we are? If we were setting about money laundering, would we do it under our own names, through our own bank accounts? I hardly think that it would be a very clever criminal who would do so. It asks about basic annual income, allowances and benefits, variable income, whether I have other income, rent, pensions, investments, company profits and so on. It asks about the source of wealth, account information, NSC, account number, account type, purpose of account, why the account has been opened, whether it is daily banking, savings or investments, receipt of rental income, payment of salary, credit or lending facility, other, in which case please give details. What is the source of funds? Where is the money coming from? Is it salary, pensions, sale of asset or other, social welfare payment, rental income, savings, or investments? It asks for the estimated annual turnover and gives a raft of options.

Parenthetically, I might also raise another extraordinary announcement that I am amazed has not been picked up. There is a suggestion by some sort of income review board that some of the top civil servants should be given pay increases that are more than the entire salaries paid to Members of this House. In some cases, it is almost twice the amount. What are we at in this country where we give civil servants a pay increase twice that of Senators' salaries? I appeal to the powers that be to get rid of all these bloody allowances, the need for accountants and certified accountants, and so on - they would drive a person bewildered - and give us the rate for the job. They should establish some kind of independent assessor and let them say what we are worth and we will take that.

AIB asked that where the source of funds had a cash element, I should please provide actual or projected annual turnover of cash. How frequently would money be lodged? Would it be once-off, every two weeks, every week, every month-----