Bank anniversary stirs up some painful memories

LABOUR LEADER Eamon Gilmore was in a reflective mood yesterday. And it was prompted more by the dire state of the economy than seasonal nostalgia.

The anniversary related to a topic close to Gilmore’s financially broken heart. “This week last year, Mr Seán FitzPatrick resigned as chairman of Anglo Irish Bank after it was revealed he had been moving personal loans off the books of the bank to another institution, and then back again in order to conceal them,” he said.

Since then, said Gilmore, there had been a high-profile Garda raid on the bank, and the House had been told that the Director of Corporate Enforcement was doing some kind of investigation.

“However, no one has been called to book for what happened in the bank,” he added. Gilmore spoke of the billions the Government had put into the banks. “It is the largest bank robbery ever, except on this occasion it is the banks robbing the people,” he said.

Anniversaries can sometimes be painful occasions. Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his Ministers wore expressions which suggested it was an economic watershed they wanted to forget.

Gilmore accused the Taoiseach of not wanting a bank inquiry because of the political culpability that would land at his door given his time in the Department of Finance. “Nice piece of political rhetoric, but absolutely baseless in terms of the facts,” Cowen said.

Minister of State for Finance Martin Mansergh also recalled anniversaries, some a decade old.

During the debate on the legislation giving effect to public servant pay cuts, he spoke of the “golden era” enjoyed by public service unions and their members.

In some cases, he said, there had been a doubling of the income of public servants over 10 years.

“Unfortunately, because of circumstances, those increases have not proved sustainable and to keep the ship afloat we must make these adjustments,” he said.

Fine Gael’s Richard Bruton said the highest proportion of contribution was coming from those on the lowest pay. He speculated on what Mansergh’s reaction would be if roles were reversed and he was in Opposition. “He would rise up to his full height and use all the immense eloquence at his disposal to excoriate a government that was doing it,” said Bruton.

Mansergh implied that he just might. “And the deputy would be saying what I am saying if he were on this side of the House,” he said.

There was one point of agreement. Labour’s Joan Burton reminded the Minister of State that societies do best where people were paid well and conditions were fair.

“Yes,” replied Mansergh.

It made the Gilmore-inspired bank anniversary all the more painful to recall.