Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

It was far better to make that call. This was a call with which we were intrinsically involved, not only on the night in question but in the days leading up to it because we saw in advance what was happening and what needed to be done.

However, the issue of deposits and the keeping of liquidity in our economy was only one side of the balance sheet. The other side must be addressed, namely, the asset side of the bank balance sheet. The fundamental problem was that those banks were treating an unsustainable false model, particularly in the years 2004-06. Our two largest banks, which up to that date had maintained a sanity, then lost it and subsequently built up a loan book that was not viable.

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