Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank both witnesses. I have raised a matter at all of today's sessions. When I read through the Green Paper, it worried me because it was intellectually weak and there was no counterfactual analysis or risk assessment. It felt like it was written by a cheerleader for free capital markets. Obviously, reducing transaction costs is good and diversifying sources of funding is useful. There has been much discussion of the debt-for-equity financing over the banking model. However, the last 15 years have shown us categorically that the poorly regulated free movement of capital, particularly now that the quantitative easing, QE, tap has been turned on, can be a profoundly dangerous and damaging thing. Not a single paragraph in the Green Paper mentions that if we make it easier for capital to flow around, into and out of the eurozone, there are associated risks. Dr. Gurdgiev mentioned one, namely, stripping away some of the ability to arbitrage or spread risk over various macroeconomic situations among eurozone members. Is either witness concerned by the paper's lack of critical thinking or suggestion of the risks associated with freeing up capital movement into and within the eurozone?