Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am saying there are many people who question the morality of some of the activities that go on in places like the Irish Financial Services Centre, including shadow banking, derivatives, futures and, essentially, financial speculation, given the role that they had in destabilising the global economy and indeed the role they continue to play in maintaining a high level of instability in the global economy. Is there any discussion about the need to regulate more tightly a sector which has done considerable damage to the international economy; which could potentially do further damage; and which could specifically make the Irish economy vulnerable to further shocks to the international financial system? If the Government strategy is to grow this sector, as Mr. Fraser maintains, is there any concern that putting so many eggs in the basket of expanding financial services could actually make the Irish economy rather vulnerable to further international financial shocks, or, for that matter, changes in corporate tax policy in places such as the United States?