Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That word, "leverage", says it all. That is the concept that says a lot about the Senator's view of private banking. Particularly as a majority shareholder and as a Government, you have to understand the commercial independence of banks. There is a role for privately owned banks. I want our banking sector to be owned more by the private sector in the future. The Senator is familiar with company law and the independence of boards. Is she implying that a shareholder, particularly a Government, would use the shareholding that it has in the banks as a source of leverage against an independently elected board of directors? If it is, she is entitled to her view. However, I would argue that is a pathway to bringing back together the risk between sovereign and banking systems that we said we never wanted to repeat again. It is not a path that I believe we should go down.