The Oireachtas may have to pass emergency legilsation to deal with the banks if the current talks with the Government are not successful.
The banks have been called in in the past to answer for their actions and nothing happened. In fact the banks have shown a blatant disregard for the Government and the Oireachtas on an ongoing basis. We must send out a strong signal to the banks that their behaviour on the tracker mortgage and other issues will no longer be tolerated. In the talks before the formation of the Government it was agreed that we would establish a one-stop shop situation for people in financial distress and that no one would be thrown out of their homes. However nothing has been done in that regard and more people than ever are facing eviction.
We could pass legilsation in one night to provide 64 billion to bail out the banks in the past and with the situation the way it is now we should prepare emergency legislation to pass immediately if we need to go down that road to deal with this situation. I am sure that in the event of that happening their would be all party support.
In relation to the role of The Central Bank, it is not appropriate that they are dealing with the concerns of the banks and the concerns of consumers at the same time and that situation needs to be looked at. I am also of the strong opinion that directors on the boards of the banks should be made answerable for the conduct of their organisations.
