Mr. David McWilliams:

It is less risky at the time. If the Deputy thinks about it, if one puts money into land in Ireland, how many tax breaks does one get? Loads. How much cheap capital does one get? Loads. Why does one get cheap capital? It is because the banks say they know what land smells and feels like. However, take someone like Apple’s founders. They tell the banks they are going to build the most amazing computers out of a garage and will need X millions of euro to do so but have no guarantees or collateral, just that it is all in their head. The banks will not give someone like that money.

What I was trying to explain in the historical context was that one part of our economy would become bloated with capital while another part would become totally starved. That is where we have to got to in Ireland. We have a massively efficient multinational sector but very little domestic industry. I believe this is because of the way in which Irish capital was given out in the boom, namely, that it always favoured land. At the very top of the boom, 88% of every single loan given out by an Irish bank in this country was to a property or property-related investment. When one allows the banks be the sole arbiter of the distribution of capital, one will get endemic short-termism. Why? It is because it drives up their share prices and bankers’ bonuses are paid by share prices.