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

If I go to your core document, Vol. 1, page 60, and this relates to a summary in the Department of Finance of the Bacon report regarding what became NAMA and we take the second last paragraph on page 60, "Also an Asset Management Agency ... would offer prospects for avoiding many of the shortcomings associated with a continuation of the existing bank[ing]-property developer relationships. Potential advantages include ..." and then it gives (i), it gives (ii) and then it gives (iii), which I quote:

... the interposing of a disinterested third party between bankers and clients, which might break "crony capitalist" connections that otherwise impede efficient transfer of assets from powerful enterprises. The latter may seem particularly beneficial in circumstances [and] markets [I think], where ownership concentration and connections between borrower and banks are often very close.

The Lombard Street Research report, which was commissioned by the Construction Industry Federation, in page 8, no need to ... said, and I quote, "The Bacon report is replete with references to 'crony capitalism' and the harmful effects this has had." Can I just ask you, Governor ... as you know, these two institutions wouldn't be widely believed to be revolutionary socialists or the like but do you agree that crony capitalism adequately describes how land speculators, developers and financial institutions related to each other in the bubble?