David Norris (Independent)

On the downgrading of Ireland's AAA credit rating by Standard & Poor's, which is a commercial firm and rating agency, Standard & Poor's was at the centre of the mess which caused the international financial collapse. It was among those rating firms and being paid for it by the firms they were rating. It joined the race to the bottom and, as a result, missed some of the toxic elements in the bundles being provided to international financial institutions. It was heavily involved in the mess involving sub-prime mortgages. I see Standard & Poor's as an essential element of the economic catastrophe facing America and the rest of the planet. It decided to amend Ireland's credit position by moving us away from our AAA rating. There might well be good grounds for that — I do not know. While I am not in a position to comment on that, I would have thought that it would have been intelligent for Standard & Poor's to have waited for the Government to make its budget day proposals before it popped out its little nose in this respect.