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

Yes ... the point I would put to you after is to ask you if in fact your Government made regulation subservient to competitiveness and competition between banks. Mr. Ahern says:

Enhanced competitiveness is a key part of the Government's strategy to achieve social progress, better living standards, and a steadily improving quality of life. I am absolutely committed to ensuring that Ireland continues to be a competitive and open economy.

He then goes on to say, "This White Paper deals with good quality regulation, which has an essential role in achieving these objectives." He further says:

We also need to ensure that the benefits of greater competitiveness and of heightened domestic competition are transferred to citizens [...] Better Regulation is one of the instruments available to achieve this [...] Bad or cumbersome regulation [not only] creates barriers to efficient markets, thereby discouraging competition and innovation...".

The question to you, Mr. Cowen, is that the testimony here, from several witnesses, including the most senior bankers and the Governor of the Central Bank, is that precisely this competitiveness and competition that was encouraged by your Government led to, my word, or my suggestion to you, a cutthroat competition between them that led the banks to lend recklessly to developers for speculators etc.-----