Mr. Marco Buti:

In my initial address, I indicated that the increase in house prices got completely out of hand. What I was simply saying is that the Celtic tiger period was followed by a period of growth which was more domestically oriented. In the initial phase, this switch of the model, from export growth to domestic-based growth, went hand in hand with an increase in the importance of the housing market. I fully agree with Deputy Higgins. Then the system and the market got out of hand and, clearly, there was - what, in retrospect, is clearly - a bubble, and a very unhealthy one. I do not at all say that we considered the developments in the housing market in Ireland a healthy one. I said at the beginning it was normal that there was this switch from export-led growth to domestic-led growth and we can see now in retrospect - we signalled at the time, though not in as forceful a way as one could have done - that there were a number of elements in the supervisory practices and in the conduct of tax policy and fiscal policy in general and taxation in particular, which added fuel to the fire. This is the assessment that we have now. At the time, if one looks at all the technical assessments of the stability programme of Ireland issued post 2001, regularly one finds these type of warnings, but it is true that we did not fully draw the consequences of this and ring the bell as loud as one could have done had we had the knowledge and tools that we have now.