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

Yes. With respect, Ms Nolan, the paper, Regulating Better, from the Department of the Taoiseach in January 2004 made exactly those points, that regulation was to develop in a responsible way the sector. But we know what happened in the meantime with the bubble and the disastrous crash. Now, several witnesses in front of this inquiry have suggested that giving the Central Bank and the regulator at that time the mandate to regulate and control at the same time as promoting the industry gave rise to a conflict. And the Governor of the Central Bank listed it as one of the difficulties that arose with tougher regulation and allowing so-called light-touch regulation. What's different now, one would have to ask?