I am one of the members of the committee who is putting pressure on the banks. I do not get up in the morning to come to the Houses of the Oireachtas in order to be misled or lied to by senior bankers, as is happening in committee room 4. I have just come from a meeting with representatives of Permanent TSB, whom I asked about the bank's split mortgage product. They said they do not charge interest rates on the warehoused portion of the product. After I left the meeting I contacted a customer of Permanent TSB, who sent me a copy of a document the bank issued two weeks ago stating that interest would be charged on the customer's warehoused account at a rate of 4.1%.

The banks are running rings around this Government and it is time the Minister stepped up to the mark. He should stop hiding behind the Central Bank and its targets and start to rein them in. Last April the Taoiseach told this House that he expected a substantial contribution from the leadership of the banks in respect of pay and pensions. He further stated that it would be right to have such an expectation because these are extraordinary salaries. He made his comments in the context of the Mercer report and at a time when Bank of Ireland was holding its AGM. The Minister was to vote on Richie Boucher's salary. One year later, not one cent of the basic pay of top bankers has been cut on foot of the Mercer report recommendations. In particular, citizens of this State will be shocked to learn that, once again, the CEO of Bank of Ireland, Richie Boucher, has earned an obscene salary-----

I would prefer if the Deputy did not mention the names of people who are not here.

The CEO of Bank of Ireland is paid an obscene salary from a bank that has only been saved because of the sacrifices of the Irish taxpayer. We know the total package is €843,000. Bank of Ireland exists only because it was bailed out by citizens of this State. The cost incurred by the taxpayer has been immense. Despite all the hardships endured by ordinary hard-working people across the State, this bank continues to show contempt for them in the way it deals with repossessions and legal letters and its obligation to provide credit to small and medium-sized enterprises. Was the Taoiseach misleading the House when he made his comments last year, or was he misled?

I assume that Bank of Ireland will appear before the committee in the coming days. The Deputy can raise his points directly with the representatives of the banks. I do not know whether the CEO will be appearing but if he is, I am sure he will be anxious to reply to the points raised.

Bank salaries were capped at €500,000 by this Government. The arrangements for the CEO of Bank of Ireland were entered into prior to my becoming Minister and they were agreed by my predecessor. We have 14% of Bank of Ireland. It is, by and large, a privately owned bank, and shareholders of privately owned banks tend to award key staff. That is our position on that. The targets set in the Mercer report for savings in the cost base across the banks have been exceeded and it has been a very successful exercise. They used a portfolio of means to meet the targets and these do not all involve salary cuts, even though there have been significant salary cuts. The Mercer targets have been realised, when all the initiatives are taken into account, and the cost base of the main banks has been driven down substantially.

On foot of a freedom of information request to the Department of Finance, I received a copy of the advice given to the Minister in respect of last year's AGM. It was clear that his officials did not want him to vote for the remuneration package of the CEO of Bank of Ireland. They said it would be inappropriate given that he had not received responses on the Mercer report. The Taoiseach stated on that day that the salaries were extraordinary. He expected significant reductions from the leadership of the banks. One year later, we know that not one cent of the basic salary of €843,000 has been reduced. We know that people in Bank of Ireland and other banks have lost their jobs, but at the highest level, not one cent has been taken from salaries.

On 25 April, while this House is in recess, the Minister will have the option, on behalf of the Irish people, to cast a vote based on his shareholding in Bank of Ireland. He will have to vote on the resolution to endorse the remuneration packages. Yesterday he told me that he has not yet considered the matter. He needs to do what the Irish people expect from him and what he should have done last year. He needs to say that paying €843,000 to the CEO of Bank of Ireland is obscene at a time when the bank is not dealing with the mortgage crisis appropriately and when Irish people are struggling. As the Minister for Finance, he should not endorse such packages. I ask him to clarify for the House the position he will take in two weeks' time.

I replied to that question yesterday when I told the Deputy the position. I do not believe in gesture politics or idle symbolic gestures. The State has 14% of Bank of Ireland. How we vote on this issue at the AGM does not matter. It is going to go through anyway, and it sends a signal-----

It does matter.

The consideration I have to take into account is the kind of signal it would send to the wider investment community, which is anxious to invest in Ireland through the activities of the IDA and the purchase of property.

What sort of signal does it send to those who were crippled by the Minister's austerity policies?

It is an issue that has to be considered carefully and I do not want to do anything that would damage the reputation of Ireland internationally by seeming to interfere in a commercial entity. I will consider the Deputy's submission and let him know what we will do in due course.

Deputy Donnelly, please.

I thought symbolism was very important. We have not heard anything else over the past two days.

Thank you, Deputy Higgins. Unfortunately, I did not call you; I called Deputy Donnelly.

Give him a chance, a Cheann Comhairle.