Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

Sean O'Casey gave us the lines "the whole world's in a terrible state of chassis". This sums up Ireland, in that we are in a state of chassis. Why? It is due to reckless lending on the part of banks and developers chasing profits and increased turnover. It is due to the minimal and at times non-existent State regulation of the banking and financial sectors. It is due to what can only be called an orgy of property speculation based on greed and private gain. It is due to the fact that we seem to lack a vision of the type of country and society in which we want to live. It is due to the unhealthy relationships between bankers, developers, financiers and politicians. Above all, it is due to the fact that this State, especially the Fianna Fáil-led Governments of the past decade, ceased putting the needs of its people above the driving greed of those developers and bankers and, in the process, turned its back on the values of fairness, social justice and equality.

The crisis is also due to speculation in the price of land and the issue of rezoning. Land was rezoned by politicians, banks lent money to the speculators and developers and we are left considering the excessive cost of the tribunals trying to unravel this mess. Why were the recommendations of the Kenny report not implemented, and what do we have to show for this? Heavy mortgages, negative equity, the price of land allowed to move way beyond its actual value, developments of apartment blocks with gated communities inhospitable to families and built with no regard to the existing culture and environment, unlived in estates in towns and villages, rotting hulks of unfinished buildings, massive job losses and, above all, wasted opportunity.

What do the young people I had been teaching until last June have to look forward to? They will have few opportunities for jobs, for the realisation of their many talents and for nurturing their confidence in a safe, cleaner, more equal and friendly society. So much could have been done in the more prosperous years. So much now remains to be repaired in the wake of this Celtic catastrophe.

We can examine the Docklands area of Dublin Central as a microcosm of the macrocosm. Community activists, including the late Mr. Tony Gregory, ceaselessly questioned and opposed the manner of this development because it was based on the greed and profit of developers and bankers, aided by politicians. There are key prime examples of arrested developments and unfinished buildings. It is suggested that they should be left in place as a type of museum, a warning to future generations of what happens when dictatorial greed is the motivating and unifying factor among bankers, developers and politics.

For me, some of the worst excesses have been the payments, bonuses and expenses of those in high positions in business, banking, finance, development and State agencies, and the easy access to multi-million euro loans, secretively concealed. It appears that here, bonuses are disaster related and not performance related; the bigger the disaster, the bigger the bonus. Consider the wages being paid and what we are getting in return. It is obvious that high wages and bonuses do not necessarily bring the best brains and the most committed to the job. Shakespeare stated there was something rotten in the state of Denmark but, equally, there is something rotten in the state of Ireland.

So much money is being provided for NAMA that it is mind boggling, particularly for those who are struggling, whom I meet every day. I refer to hard-working people losing jobs and homes. My constituents are living in the shadows of fear over what is yet to come. The figures are mind boggling for people on community projects and drugs projects that are facing uncertainty. They are mind boggling for the people living in locations such as O'Devaney Gardens, Croke Villas who were left shattered by the collapse of the public private partnerships, and for those trying to survive on social welfare payments.

I accept we need a functioning banking system for the efficient operation of the economy but that functioning banking system must be open, transparent, honest, accountable and responsible. My concern is that we are giving the same people who let us down the task of saving the country. They were not open, honest or responsible but reckless, greedy, selfish and motivated by private gain. They just took and gave nothing in return and still refuse to accept responsibility for the economic collapse. These people have let us down and they must not be allowed to do so again.

The Taoiseach rightly said he wants to return the country to growth for the benefit of all. Is NAMA the right way to do this? I wish to believe those proposing and supporting NAMA are doing so with the best interests of the people at heart. I accept every solution to the current economic crisis involves risk. A very significant risk associated with NAMA is the fact that the lands bought by developers at excessively high prices, and whose price has now collapsed, will at some time increase in value again. Will that set in motion the exact cycle that has brought us to the point of economic and social "chassis"?

No matter what solution is put forward - NAMA, nationalising the banks, temporarily or otherwise, or having a good bank-bad bank arrangement - there must be certain minimum requirements. These include absolute protection for the taxpayer, who should not have to pay for the blunders of the bankers and the sins of the speculators, as many are now doing; strict and independent regulation of the banking and financial sector and accountability in the Dáil; a complete clear-out of directors and senior staff responsible for these disasters; stringent regulation of salaries, bonuses and dividends; and mechanisms to ensure the banks and financial institutions release funds for productive and social purposes and do not use taxpayers' money for private investment or as a counterweight on deposit for some other far-flung foreign investments. Risks must not be shouldered by the taxpayer and those on social welfare, and buildings, sites and assets should be used in a creative and socially beneficial way. Above all, a responsible, honest functioning banking system with a social conscience is required. We must get it right and we must be guided by principles of fairness, social justice and equality.

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