Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Carroll for sharing time. For 15 of the past 18 years the Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, has been in ministerial office. During that period we have seen unprecedented economic growth in our country. We have achieved heights that people never dreamt could be achieved. As the report has shown, mistakes were made in banking, in our regulatory authorities and in our macro-economic policies. This has been acknowledged by the Taoiseach and others. It is no consolation that the same mistakes were made on an even larger scale in other economies such as the USA, Britain, Germany, Japan and elsewhere in more developed economies than ours.

There have been many leaks from time to time from our parliamentary party. However, one leak that was not made was in October 2008 when the extent of this crisis emerged. At one of our meetings, when politicians within our party were concerned about the political fallout, the Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, said to us clearly that this was a time to put the country first, not a time to consider the interests of the party or to deprive the country of any benefit. Such is the leadership that the country needs and it is exemplified by the Taoiseach.