Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 2 September 2015

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis

Nexus Phase

Mr. Michael Walsh:

No. Sorry, I understand what you are trying to pursue, but I want to actually give you ... for the balanced answer. You know, if Central Bank or the Financial Regulator, in terms of looking at the total market, was of the view that the market was becoming unstable, then it should not have done anything which would have facilitated additional lending by any institution or by all of the institutions. Second thing I am saying to you is if the Financial Regulator or, indeed, the Central Bank had serious concerns in relation to the lending, lending practices or the governance, then instead of actually approving something which would facilitate additional lending, they should have actually rejected it. So, what I'm saying to you is, two actions: if they believed there was instability in the market they should absolutely not have actually allowed it and, secondly, if they believed the society wasn't being properly run, if its lending policies weren't sensible or if its lending decisions weren't sensible, then they should not have done anything to facilitate growth. They should have been saying the opposite.

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