Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Second, learning that bank shares are risky might be a lesson worth learning but there are many other exercises that are worth learning from the debacle over the last ten years. The wisdom of putting State funds into speculative banks is one very serious lesson, and there are many others, but obviously the witnesses are not policy makers.

My second point related to value for money. I finished before I left the room on my last round of questioning. Eight people have died since August. I knew the figure and I did not wish to say it. I was not trying to catch the officials out over one or two people. I was using it as an indicator of the magnitude of the problem. It has a direct bearing in regard to policy decisions. I was away while Deputy Cullinane was asking his questions. Did we have to save Anglo Irish Bank given that we could not? Looking back, was this a bad decision? Were alternatives considered? Have alternatives been considered since in terms of value for money? What value for money exercise has been done in regard to learning lessons?