Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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The committee of the inquiry into the banking crisis is now in public session. Good morning and I would like to welcome you to the joint public hearing of the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis. Later this morning we will hear from Professor Alan Ahearne but in our first session of this morning's discussion we will hear from Dr. Peter Bacon on the Bacon report on the housing market in Ireland and the development of the proposals to establish NAMA.

Dr. Peter Bacon is a well-known economist. He holds primary and postgraduate qualifications in economics including a PhD from Trinity College Dublin. Since September 1994 he has built and developed an economic consultancy practice. During his career Dr. Bacon has held a wide range of positions in Ireland and overseas. He has worked in the public and private sectors in Ireland, for some years as a stockbroker. In the public sector he has worked as an executive and as a ministerial adviser. Dr. Bacon's overseas experience includes working in developing economies with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris, and working in developing and transitioning economies with the World Bank, Washington DC, and the EU TACIS programme. His main areas of interest are in macro-economic and financial policy issues and evaluations of policies and projects at sector level. He has published widely over the years in these areas. Dr. Bacon, you are very welcome before the inquiry this morning.

Before we begin, I wish to advise the witness that by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to this committee. If they are directed by the Chairman to cease giving evidence in relation to a particular matter and they continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to a qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given. As you have been informed previously, the committee is asking witnesses to refrain from discussing named individuals in this phase of the inquiry. Members are reminded of the long-standing ruling of the Chair to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the House or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.