Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

Working from the executive summary of the commission of investigation into the banking sector, that is, the Nyberg report, does the Taoiseach agree it is rather unfortunate that sheer naked corporate greed was not identified as the major driving force that led to the insanity in the property market and the subsequent crash? Does the Taoiseach agree that the herd instinct and group-think to which the report referred was to pursue recklessly massive commercial and corporate profits for a tiny elite at the expense of society? Does the Taoiseach think it strange that in the entire executive summary, not a single sentence is devoted to the role in this debacle of major political parties or the Government? The Fianna Fáil Party was colonised by the developers and bankers who, as Members are aware, entertained them like Arabian sheiks while they drove up fourfold the price of a home for an ordinary working person. Does the Taoiseach acknowledge the complicity of his own party, Fine Gael, which, during the ten years in which this was going on, did not once raise its voice in opposition to the profiteering?

See this speech in context