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

David McWilliams: "I think the Irish property crash and the banking crash were both incredibly predictable and absolutely preventable." And the same Mr. McWilliams said on "Prime Time" in RTE in October 2003 and I quote:

The Irish housing market is a scam. It is an enormous financial swindle that could potentially confine an entire generation of young Irish workers to years of bad debt. Far from being a reflection of economic vitality and fundamental demand, the housing bubble is, in the main, a vacuous financial confidence trick that has been foisted upon us by an alliance of banks and landowners. Behind this nonsense is excessive and irresponsible lending from our financial institutions. The situation would be laughable if it were not so serious.

How could a commentator who hasn't an iota of the resources and the responsibilities of the Central Bank be so spot on so early in the bubble, and the institution that is responsible for all this does nothing?