Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

Thomas Payne, the great 18th century philosopher who contributed to the French and the American revolutions, once said, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste". That phrase was repeated last week by Mr. Rahm Emanuel, chief of staff to newly elected President Obama, in responding to the US and global financial recession. The US is clearly on the ball. There can be no situation so desperate and dismal that does not provide a host of opportunities and challenges.

A new ethics and equity must be established at the heart of the financial sector. The old boys' network with its nexus of banking, the regulatory authority and the Central Bank is fatal and must be ended immediately. Self-enrichment of directors through internal sweetheart loans and inappropriate remuneration packages must be discontinued immediately. A new independent regulatory system must be established to prevent the excesses of private greed which have caused the crisis. Above all, the State must retain its involvement in the banking sector after the crisis is over in the interests of protecting the people's money and the country's economy.

The days of light or self-regulation in the financial sector are well and truly over. The golden circle of overpaid, underperforming irresponsible financiers and bankers, creating a cosy self-perpetuating cartel which has controlled the economies of the world in the interests of profit and self-aggrandisement, must never be allowed to control the commanding heights of our economies again. The people have too much to lose. Millions of jobs are at stake, careers and lives have been destroyed and families beggared. The public sector must never allow itself to become so enthralled by the private sector again. National governments representing the public good must insist on a new banking system. It should be a mixed banking system consisting of part public ownership, part co-operative and part private. Each member state of the EU should have a designated financial institution, preferably a State controlled or co-operative bank, to draw down funds from the EU banking system.

In the case of Ireland, the newly-nationalised Anglo Irish Bank should be the vehicle for drawing from the €30 billion fund that was made available in October 2008 by the European Investment Bank to provide loans for small and medium-sized enterprises. These enterprises are the life blood of every economy. The existing private banks are not drawing down the EIB money and they are not lending it to those enterprises. The small and medium enterprises are thus starved of cash flow and their ability to operate effectively is greatly damaged, causing further small scale job losses across the length and breadth of Ireland. The Government is doing nothing about this.

Millions of people are losing their jobs in this unprecedented crisis. Every effort must be made to minimise the effect of those job losses. The key Government response must be to make every effort to ensure that those unemployed workers do not sink into long-term unemployment. Retraining, re-skilling, back to education, mechanisms to complete apprenticeships, community-based work programmes, a stimulus package to create employment in necessary projects such as school building, installation of homes and social housing are all essential Government actions. New technologies, particularly in the area of sustainable and environmentally-friendly energy creation and use should be targeted and resourced.

The financial institutions should not be allowed to foreclose on homeowners. There should be a moratorium placed on mortgage repayments for a number of years so that those who become unemployed do not lose their homes as well as their jobs. The State banking guarantees and re-capitalisation of the major banks should provide sufficient leverage for the Government to insist on such a moratorium.

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