Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Professor FitzGerald said that if the rest of the world had not collapsed, we would have come through. He also said that if the ESRI had foreseen the financial crisis, it would have been factored into its assessment of Ireland. Is he a subscriber to the view that were it not for the international crisis, the banks would have been sound? The reason I ask this question is that a number of witnesses who have come before the committee, including those who have authored reports on the banking crisis, say very clearly that it was a home-grown crisis and that the international financial crisis recognised the crisis here at an earlier stage. If the rest of the world had not collapsed, does Professor FitzGerald believe we would have come through?