Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The Regling and Watson and Honohan reports identify an appalling lack of expertise in the Department of Finance. Maybe the Department has accountants and I believe it has economists, but they did not seem to be in a position to contribute to warding off the collapse, particularly the collapse in Irish Nationwide and Anglo Irish Bank. I recall civil servants from the Department of Finance advising me that the senior management of those institutions were extraordinarily knowledgeable and well placed to command the affairs of the institutions and were, pretty much, irreplaceable. I found that notion extraordinary and still find it so. The Department of Finance needs people with specific professional skill sets, which they have practised in areas such as accountancy.

We are all aware of the one person who came into the Minister's Department as an assistant secretary and was referred to in The Sunday Business Post last weekend. That person was at a senior level in the Department, left to go to a consulting position and then returned. Someone who goes out, gets experience and comes back is valuable but that is hardly a revolution.

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