Le linn na géarchéime, tá sé aontaithe go nglacfaimid le tuarascáil an Choiste Gnó mar a léitear é. Ag éirí as sin, tá dhá mholadh ag teacht os ár gcomhair. Ar dtús, an bhfuil clár oibre an lae inniu aontaithe? Is Wednesday's business agreed to?

We need time to be provided for the Taoiseach to give a full explanation to the Dáil as to why big bonuses can now be paid again to bankers at AIB, a bank that was bailed out by the taxpayer to the tune of €32 billion. Fianna Fáil had been out of Government for ten years but it has only taken it ten months in office to resume the payment of outrageous bonuses to elite staff in this bank. This is an unacceptable situation and a kick in the teeth to every person in receipt of the PUP who will face a tax bill, to student nurses and midwives-----

We cannot have a debate on the issue now.

In fact, it is a kick in the teeth to every family and worker who struggles in these extraordinary times. The leader of Fianna Fáil and the current Taoiseach needs to explain in full his Government's decision-----

You have made your point Deputy. We cannot have a lengthy debate on the matter.

----- to resume big bonus payments to the fat cats at the top of an institution that the taxpayers of this State bailed out and paid for very, very dearly.

On behalf of the Rural Independent Group, I ask the Taoiseach to provide time to discuss what is going on in banking, including the complete abandonment of rural Ireland and many areas of urban Ireland, not to mention what went on with Davy stockbrokers. There is simply no appetite in this or the previous Government for legislation around banking to address what banks are doing and the way they are treating the people.

I can only take one speaker from each group. Deputy Paul Murphy is next.

I agree with the proposal from Deputy McDonald. We need to have a debate about this. One of the issues that is particularly concerning is that it is reported in the Irish Examiner that the Minister for Finance did not bring any memorandum to Cabinet on Tuesday about his decision but merely slipped it in during an oral briefing on various banking issues. If one looks at the situation in banking right now, one sees the massive closure of bank branches and the threat that poses to rural communities and jobs, one sees what has been exposed at Davy's and now, on top of that, one sees that we are back to the bad old days of big bankers' bonuses.

Thank you Deputy. You have made your point.

We need to have a debate and we need to have a statement from the Taoiseach.

We fully agree and perhaps the solution would be to add some time to and re-title the debate scheduled for later today on banking.

Thank you. That is a helpful suggestion.

We do need a debate on these issues which are coming up more and more. We have seen the situation with Ulster Bank and Bank of Ireland. Bonuses are also being paid to auctioneers and we must deal with the issue. I support the proposal that has been made.

I agree with the points made. Extra time must be provided to allow some discussion of the behaviour of a number of leading lights in the area of banking and financial institutions. In particular, I am thinking of what has been unearthed in Davy. It is one thing to impose a fine of €4 million but what we really need to see is the people concerned in this kind of criminal activity being brought to book. It is important that we hear the implications for them and I hope those implications will be severe.

Before we started the Chief Whip told me that we have full agreement from the Business Committee and that there are no issues with the Order of Business. That did not last 60 seconds but what intrigues me is that on the schedule for this evening, at 5.54 p.m., is statements and questions and answers by the Minister for Finance on the banking sector, with 135 minutes provided for the debate. What are the Deputies on about? It is provided for on the schedule but the Deputies all get up and say, "Shock, horror, we need a debate on banking. There is none provided for." It is provided for and has been agreed. The Deputies agreed it and the Chief Whip agreed it on behalf of the Government. We all agreed that there would be statements on banking this evening. There will be a debate and the Minister for Finance is coming in.

What is really going on here is Deputies playing politics with workers. Deputy McDonald spoke about a slap in the face to this worker and that person on the PUP. The Government has to deal with the substance of the issues at hand. There are three Irish companies involved here, with a whole range of employees. There is Fexco, for example, in south Kerry, which employs a substantial number of people. The Government had that in mind. It had the protection of work in that company in mind, in terms of making decisions of this kind. These issues are not simple. Banking is going through a significant change, as can be seen from the NatWest situation, the Bank of Ireland decision and a range of other matters. Banking is not what it was in the past. It is going through huge change and challenges. We want to protect as many jobs as we possibly can and to ensure the viability of the wider banking sector. We also need a vibrant stockbroking sector in Ireland-----

The Taoiseach without interruption.

-----to help to ensure that indigenous Irish SMEs and corporates can access capital markets to fund their future growth plans which will underpin Ireland's economic recovery as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision is good news for Fexco, which is an important employer in the south west. It can use the proceeds it receives to continue to grow and innovate in financial services and maintain employment in the region. It has been a leading employer there for quite some time.

The standard remuneration arrangements in stockbroking business are not similar to retail and commercial banking and never have been. That is a fact. The Minister for Finance has ring fenced the staff in Goodbody from the rest of the AIB group and will ensure ongoing compliance with Government policy on bank remuneration. There has not been a change to Government policy on bank remuneration. There has been no change in relation to that. The Minister for Finance will be in the Chamber this evening to debate this at greater length and to take questions from Deputies on it. AIB is acquiring a business with a variable pay structure. The bank will continue to observe strictly the Government's remuneration restrictions. Controls and measures are in place under the deal to provide complete transparency in this regard. Under the terms of the acquisition-----

Thank you, Taoiseach. Can we take it, Taoiseach, that the debate that is already scheduled, to which we have all agreed, can in fact deal with the issues that the Members have raised, as Deputy Duncan Smith has suggested?

That is not what I asked for. I asked for a full statement of explanation from the Taoiseach to the Dáil as to why there has been a change in policy and why these bonuses will resume in an institution that the taxpayers of this country bailed out to the tune of €32 billion. What I hear from the Taoiseach now is an assertion that in fact bonuses will not be paid. He needs to be careful not to mislead or to place inaccuracies on the record of the Dáil. People deserve an explanation from the head of Government as to why and how such a dramatic, unwelcome and unacceptable change to policy has been made. That needs to come by way of a statement from the Taoiseach.

It is up to the Taoiseach as to whether he makes a statement on these matters.

That is just unacceptable play acting. The Minister for Finance is a very authoritative Cabinet figure in the context of finance and banking. He has responsibility for policy in that area and it makes absolute sense and logic that he would present on this issue in the House this evening.

The Deputy is just playing politics. This had been agreed at the Business Committee and it is the same carry on week after week, with sloganeering, branding politics and trying to place people in particular pigeonholes to suit the political narrative of Sinn Féin. It is not good politics because it is playing politics with people who have jobs in these institutions. I am talking about people in Fexco and AIB. The Deputy can play politics with them as much as she likes, but the Government has to deal with the substance of the issues.

I am speaking about-----

We will deal with it, and we will not be afraid to make decisions in the interests of employees.

Please, Deputies.

We are here to organise the business of the day. Deputy McDonald has called on the Taoiseach to make a statement, but it is up to him whether he does that. We have, however, scheduled a debate for 135 minutes on banking. Deputy Duncan Smith very reasonably suggested that the issues raised by Deputy McDonald could be raised in that debate and proposed that be done. Is the proposal for today's business agreed? Agreed.

The second proposal concerns Thursday's business. Is the proposal for that business agreed? Agreed. I thank everyone very much.

We now move to Questions on Promised Legislation. I advise Members there are 35 names on the list in front of me. I call Deputy McDonald.