Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

No. I have antipathy towards two matters. The Minister and I share similar views in this regard. First, I have an antipathy towards the competition god of Europe, which is the real cause of the problem in the banks. We can all blame one another, but the fundamental mistake was that, when the euro was set up, Europe watched governments' deficits but left the international banks alone. The idea that we can control the banks from the Houses is simplistic. The Bank of Scotland and a range of non-Irish banks are just as bad as the Irish banks. Money came in thanks to the free market. There was a fallacious belief that the free market and competition solved all problems.

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