Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased that it is. In the period running up to the crisis the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament met many times. The then head of the European Central Bank, Jean Claude Trichet, would attend those meetings and answer questions. At that time Irish MEPs, most notably Mr. Eoin Ryan and Mr. Gay Mitchell, consistently raised with Mr. Trichet whether, because asset price inflation at that time was extremely worrying for countries like Ireland, it was prudent to be lowering interest rates. It was even suggested by some people at the time that this would not be sufficient. All of this information is available from the minutes of the meetings and as such there is nothing that is not in the public domain.

Mr. Trichet was very specific in pointing out at that time that Ireland was performing very well and that while the focus of the ECB was very much on price stability, asset price inflation should remain its main focus and mission. Has that changed? From the Commission's perspective, is there greater focus than heretofore on the effects of asset price inflation given what that led to, as opposed to the traditional ECB mission which is arguably more German-focused of price stability?