Colm McCarthy "enquiry into banking system failure"

[onthefence]

I am surprised that C McCarthy wants to have an enquiry into why the banking system failed so badly here. I cannot think of a reason why he would call for it.

Surely at this stage we know what happened and I will sumarise it

One reckless bank, Bank A who was controlled by one person decided to involve his bank in all types of reckless deals that any normal sane banker would not touch with a barge pole.

The interest rates set by the ECB went to a record low thus creating an allusion of cheap money

A regulator that was completely out of their depth, that took a bankers word as a fact. A stock market that had no control.

A goverment that wanted to create a "tir na Nog" and an electorate that blindly accepted.

Other banks that were run by spineless "managers" that decided to get on the gravy train of Bank A. They lied to us when they told us all loans were stress tested, it turns out it was just us poor retail customers that were getting this treatment.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/89158a62-f...0779fd2ac.html

Am I missing anything. I believe I have doen the state a service ( and saved a lot of money)

[anlkestony]

Wants them to be grilled live on TV. Think we should hear it from the bankers themselves. We can hear what their explanations are. We are bailing them out so we at least deserve some answers

[FakeViking]

Has Dan Boyle finally gone totally mad? He was on NewsTalk at lunchtime waffling about this Greens support Dáil inquiry into bank activities and made the ridiculous statement that the Opposition should be made to answer questions as well as the three musketeers (Ahern, Mc Creevy & Cowen) who created the mess.

Message to Dan: YOU'RE IN GOVERNMENT. Hopefully you won't be there much longer.

[He3]

I am surprised that C McCarthy wants to have an enquiry into why the banking system failed so badly here. I cannot think of a reason why he would call for it.

Surely at this stage we know what happened and I will sumarise it

One reckless bank, Bank A who was controlled by one person decided to involve his bank in all types of reckless deals that any normal sane banker would not touch with a barge pole.

The interest rates set by the ECB went to a record low thus creating an allusion of cheap money

A regulator that was completely out of their depth, that took a bankers word as a fact. A stock market that had no control.

A goverment that wanted to create a "tir na Nog" and an electorate that blindly accepted.

Other banks that were run by spineless "managers" that decided to get on the gravy train of Bank A. They lied to us when they told us all loans were stress tested, it turns out it was just us poor retail customers that were getting this treatment.

Am I missing anything. I believe I have doen the state a service ( and saved a lot of money)

On the ball.

Maybe he has a point though. He has taken stick bravely enough for his report. He took on the brief even though it excluded obvious areas of expenditure from his consideration so he walked into it.

Now he realises the banker lads (they were nearly all lads) who drove us to ruin are sunning themselves in plush retirement.

[DCon]

I am surprised that C McCarthy wants to have an enquiry into why the banking system failed so badly here. I cannot think of a reason why he would call for it.

Surely at this stage we know what happened and I will sumarise it

One reckless bank, Bank A who was controlled by one person decided to involve his bank in all types of reckless deals that any normal sane banker would not touch with a barge pole.

The interest rates set by the ECB went to a record low thus creating an allusion of cheap money

A regulator that was completely out of their depth, that took a bankers word as a fact. A stock market that had no control.

A goverment that wanted to create a "tir na Nog" and an electorate that blindly accepted.

Other banks that were run by spineless "managers" that decided to get on the gravy train of Bank A. They lied to us when they told us all loans were stress tested, it turns out it was just us poor retail customers that were getting this treatment.

Am I missing anything. I believe I have doen the state a service ( and saved a lot of money)

Just missing the bit where the MoF and the Taoiseach decided, by themselves, to guarantee the banks, including Bank A.

Their stated reason: Because the banks, including bank A, told them it was a good idea.

[Lefournier]

I think Colm McCarthy has come to realise that Irish people are not ready to accept the Bord Snip proposals because people are unwilling to take the pain when those responsible for this mess are being bailed-out or given golden handshakes.

We need to start from a shared understanding of how we got into this mess and we then need to hold those responsible to account. The first task is not as simple as the OP seems to suggest. Honestly, if Patrick Neary had received a spine implant in 2005 and blocked the 100% mortgages, who would have backed him up (of course, standing up to such pressure was supposedly why he was paid a quarter mill. a year but that's another story ).

The OP also overstates the role of "Bank A". It was the "bad boy" but there were many other factors that need to be clarified before we can understand what went so horribly wrong, above all why did the Big Two take such risks?

And let's be honest here. Most Irish people were cheerleading the property bubble, the construction boom, the easy lending and profligate public spending. When Charlie McCreevy tried to bring public spending back into line in 2003, the next year FF had their worst election ever (until this year of course). That doesn't absolve those who were responsible but we need to realise that our problems were not limited to a few individuals.

Today's Indo has a thoughtful editorial supportive of the idea.

In the circumstances, the argument for an inquiry is surely unanswerable -- not as a means of propaganda but for education and objective information. And a model has long existed in the shape of the famous inquiry by the Dail Public Accounts Committee into bogus offshore accounts. But although that inquiry was a striking success, worse things followed. Now is the time to find out why.

The DIRT enquiry succeeded because it avoided party divisiveness. Whether a wider enquiry into the banks could keep a similar united approach is questionable. Sadly, we have no better model because the criminal courts seem incapable of handling these cases.
Let's clear the decks on banks Wrong attitude to aptitude - Editorial, Opinion - Independent.ie