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

Go raibh maith agat a chathaoirligh agus cuirim fáilte roimh iar-cheannaire an ECB chuig Baile Átha Cliath, an t-Uasal Trichet. Mr. Trichet, you said in your opening statement that the ECB had no responsibility at all for bank supervision or macro-prudential policies in member states, so, therefore, can you confirm that when the Irish financial stability reports were issued between 2004 and 2007, which indicated risk to financial stability, what the ECB did or did not do in relation to that? I want to particularly draw your attention to the stability report of 2004, which it states that: "It doesn't preclude the possibility of adverse developments which, should they materialise, would have serious financial consequences for households, corporates and banks". They talk about the risk of an unanticipated and sudden fall of residential property prices, accompanied by an increase in the default among mortgage holders and it goes on to say that this risk poses the greatest threat to the health of the banking system. So, did the ECB take any actions, any measures, as a result to try and intervene, to stop, to mitigate the risks that were outlined in that report published by the Central Bank? Was it discussed at the ECB board, for example, and if no action was taken, do you regret that? And should action have been taken?