John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

Neither have I any difficulty in understanding how and why those mistakes were made and accepting them as the natural consequences of a steep learning curve. Change, ideally should be the child of foresight and planning, but is frequently an orphan who arrives on the doorsteps of governments, commercial enterprises and individuals bearing gifts or problems, or both, all needing immediate attention. When favourable trade winds, aided by the horse trading ability of the Irish, began blowing billions of euro into a system which for generations had dealt with pennies in a ponderous, conservative, and reactionary manner, something was bound to give, and it did. On the Committee of Public Accounts I watched decent people time and again trying to explain why millions of euro had disappeared down financial black holes that they did not have the experience to anticipate or the ability to prevent. These were the growing pains of a nation, the cost of moving from nickels and dimes to billions, the inevitable consequence of winning the European jackpot. It revealed the inability of the system to cope, but how could it be avoided? Awash with money and short of experience we made mistakes. We created enough boards to empty a rain forest and enough safe hands to provide goalkeepers to the world. We also created an economic miracle that is the envy of the world and released a spirit of adventure and creativity that has made Ireland and Irish companies significant and respected players on the international economic stage.

How dare the Opposition in the Irish Parliament denigrate all this endeavour for political gain? How dare they deny the evidence of their eyes and try to talk the country into a recession?

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