Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

On fiscal correction, the intentions of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, were sound but his policies were woefully misguided, so the more he did the worse it got. Then some months ago the country became insolvent, or to put it bluntly, we went bust.

The misguided budgetary policy would not on its own, however, have destroyed the country. The destruction of the county is due to the fatal banking policy. Think of the hubris of a small country guaranteeing €450 billion of funds, think of the decision to bail out Anglo Irish Bank at a cost of €32 billion to the taxpayer, and think of the extraordinary imprudence of NAMA. Think of the failure of regulation, think of the child-like belief that the banks were telling us the truth and think of the failure to hold anybody to account. Think of the decision to keep the directors of the banks in place and the decision to recruit new management from the second tier of existing management. Think of the failure in the third year of investigation to forward a single file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

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