Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Chathaoirligh. I ask the Deputy Leader if we could have a debate on the rules that Senator Coghlan has just described. It is stated in the Nyberg report that had we had those rules on a 20% deposit and three and a half times income, the banks would have saved €62 billion. That is virtually all of the €64 billion we needed to bail them out. There is opposition in the property sector and from the banks. However, we have to have macro-prudential rules to ensure we do not have another bubble. These rules worked in other countries. However, I agree with my learned friend, Senator Coghlan, that there is something to debate here. When the Governor raised the rules first, there was a strong wave of opposition. It was not a moment of unthinking behaviour by the Governor of the Central Bank. These rules have proven highly successful in stopping the kind of bubbles which did so much damage to this country.

I note the decision this week of Kerry County Council to declare itself an island.