Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I still don't know enough about it, Senator, it's a complex issue. We're operating nowadays in a global financial market and we can't afford not to have regard to that fact. I mean, light touch ... light-touch regulation is ... or principles-based regulation is one thing but derelict regulation is a different thing and it seems to me that we've had derelict regulation. You know, if you borrow from some of the countries whose banks didn't fail, you know, apply their system and enforce it, then it seems to me that in an international capitalist economy, that's probably as good as you're going to get. You know, we're neighbours of the City of London, if we were to take dramatic radical decisions on our own, you know, what would be the implications, for example, for the IFSC? You know, there's a lot of people employed there and, you know, it's of value to Ireland and so on. So, I mean, I don't know enough about the question you ask me to give you a ... it's clear that under Governor Honohan, it is clear that he has tightened the situation up immensely. Additional people, additional expertise, expertise from outside has been brought on board, and it's clear from some of the decisions that he has taken, that he has taken them irrespective of the political temperature of the day or irrespective of who's lobbying him and, you know, I would like to hope that that system can be made work.