John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

We expected that a large number of people who were involved in construction would probably return to eastern Europe. As the economy had been going well, we expected to be able to divert funding to capital projects like roads, ports, the second terminal at Dublin Airport and the metro. That was the plan. We all know that Lehman Brothers collapsed, followed by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, AIG, Bear Stearns, Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley. In April 2008, people asked whether the manner in which the world economy did its business would change. The first thing the Government had to do was to stabilise the banks. We led Europe in doing that. When we guaranteed all deposits in Irish banks, the major European economies told us it was the wrong thing to do. Within three months, they had all done the exact same thing.