Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Gentlemen, I’ve just one question to sum up. We’re just coming to a conclusion of just north of 14 hours of testimony and questions from the four that are considered the giant auditing firms in this State, and giants internationally as well in the auditing world, who audited in this State the giants of the financial institutions. Up to the end of 2007 and reporting in the first six months of 2008, there were no qualified reports whatsoever. A clean bill of health was given. You were happy with the loan books. You were happy with the security for the loans. You were happy with the large concentrations of loans in land and property. Happy with loans-to-deposit ratio and happy that all the banks were going concerns. Yet, just a few short months later at September’s end, the self-same financial institutions were in a state of chassis, down banging on Government Buildings, desperately looking for a bailout and a guarantee, leading to a process that eventually cost our people €64 billion and years of austerity and pain and dislocation.

Can you try to explain that to our aggrieved people?