Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I was making the point that is infrequently made in the context of the difficulties internationally and the difficulties we face in this country that Irish people have a particular capacity to provide goods and services to an extraordinarily high standard. It is important to remember we export approximately 90% of most of the goods and services manufactured in or provided by this country. In the case of some agricultural goods, the percentage is in excess of 90%. In light of the kind of challenges we face in the banking sector and other sectors of the economy, it is good to remember we have that capacity.

We have an extraordinary record of success in regard to foreign direct investment and international capital flows are clearly very important to that. There is no doubt NAMA or some such device was necessary to ensure international capital flows could continue and that foreign direct investment, already in the country and accounting for almost 100,000 direct and mostly highly skilled and highly paid jobs, can continue and to ensure we have the capacity to attract further opportunities of that nature. In terms of job creation and economic stability, the banking sector, regardless of what one might think about the behaviour of some people in it, plays a central role. The point I made initially was that more people have come to realise that is the case.

Many speakers rightly referred to the fact that many of our citizens are very angry. People have a right to be angry. Some of the things that happened were entirely unacceptable. A question people ask each one of us - they certainly ask me - is: "How come the regulatory system was not up to the job?" There are a couple of points to remember in that regard. It is very clear the regulatory system here performed pretty much on a par with those throughout the world and that regulatory systems were not able to deal with the challenge they faced.

One of the outcomes of this particular chastening lesson for all of us must be that we put in place a system of regulation which is capable of doing that job. That is one of the things about which citizens are angry.

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