Professor Niamh Hardiman:

What I have sketched out is a policy regime during the 2000s which involved Government in prioritising a certain way of supporting economic growth and job creation. It turned out to be hard to sustain, because it was built on short-term construction interests which adds very little value or long-term value to the economy. It also encouraged and allowed risk to develop in the financial system because it depended on the ongoing availability of credit for property. This way of arranging policy and prioritising some kinds of economic activities in policy incentives, in the early to mid-2000s, is what I designated as problematic.

We can now see, in hindsight, the scale of the property bubble that developed. In future we want to try to make sure we have balanced capabilities for really assessing the viability, durability and good foundations for any particular growth regime supported by specific kinds of fiscal incentives. Opening these out to critical scrutiny and accountability, in different political and public fora, is really what I want to stress.