The Deputies accused me of being a puppet of NATO, essentially-----

The Deputies did so on repeated occasions. In any event-----

I know the implications. They have associated us with all sorts of killings and so on. By the way, I do not deny the Deputies' right to say things. I have never attempted to interfere with their right to say things. I cherish the right to free speech---

---and I think the Parliament is a bastion of that. We need to be careful now of going too far in trying to suppress a legitimate debate in the Chamber-----

-----and that would be my assertion of what Deputy Paul Murphy is doing.

In Deputy Tóibín's case, we raised the issue of the proposed amnesty in the legislation and we will continue to do that. There is engagement going on between the two Governments.

On the Executive, the current election has to be vindicated. People have voted so the structure should stay. Then, if it is restored, we should certainly consider reform for the next one.

That is correct.

In the first instance, the outcome of the retail banking review is an important piece of work. It contains 34 recommendations. We have gone from 13 retail banks down to three. The banking landscape has changed dramatically. The report is worth reading, and the Deputy should read it in its entirety. There are very interesting recommendations, including recommending that Government would put into legislation that citizens would have access to cash. In other words, that there would be a legislative obligation on banks…

The Opposition has decided to deal with only one item. The review recommends the introduction of variable pay of up to €20,000 and for the provision of standard non-pay benefits for all employees in the three banks. There are 20,000 people working in the three retail banks. Why is the Opposition, including Sinn Féin, against ordinary workers in the banking sector from getting a pay rise? That is what the Deputy is saying and that is what she said this morning. If anybody is trying to kick the teeth of anybody else,…

-----and to keep the debate at that level, but not to look more seriously at the issues that the review brings out. There are 34 recommendations in this review. It has changed dramatically. Parallel with that, last week, the Government published the credit union Bill. The Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, has done excellent work in this regard. This review states that the credit union has significant potential now in terms of mortgages, small and medium sized businesses, SMEs, and other issues. That is the raison …

But you will not-----

I found the Deputy’s last comment in the last segment of her question very intriguing. She is basically saying that, unlike other sectors, unlike the financial services sector, that ordinary workers in the banks are not or should not be entitled to variable pay.

That is clearly what she is saying, because she said that they just be paid the basic salary and that is it.

That is what the Deputy said, and it is a very important point because of the core recommendation from the banking review that the Government has accepted.

The Deputy is saying that the ordinary bank worker is not entitled-----

-----to the variable pay or indeed is not entitled to standard benefits-----

-----in terms of the variable of €20,000.

In terms of the cap for the CEO, that relates to one bank under this recommendation, which is the Bank of Ireland.

Read it, because that is exactly as it is. That bank is not owned by the State and it has no share in that bank.