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

Okay, Mr. Neary, I'll move forward quickly. Mr. Bill Black, a former US regulator, referred to banks like Anglo Irish Bank growing like crazy based on property lending, turning out huge profits and then an inevitable disastrous crash. The loans and advances extended from 1998 to 2008 amounted as ... the growth of those was as follows: Bank of Ireland 325%, which is huge; AIB 330%, which is huge, and Anglo, 1,950%, which is mega. Mr. Neary, I want to put these concrete figures to you. In 2002, Anglo Irish Bank had total loans out there of €13.3 billion; in 2003, those loans increased by €4 billion; 2004, by €7 billion; 2005, by €10 billion; 2006, by €16 billion; and 2007, by €17 billion. Mr. Neary, did you notice this, to use Black's terms, "crazy" level of growth, and that this was largely for speculation and development in construction projects?