Sir, – There is now no doubt that in the past we got the kind of regulation that our governments and increasingly powerful business lobbyists wanted. The Government appointed the regulator and, no doubt, outlined the job specifications, which seem to have been roughly: “A regulator is just a civil servant, he never gets high-falutin’ notions and doesn’t get in the way of big business. ”
Despite the appalling consequences of our lack of effective regulation and legislation in the past, John Bruton, the former taoiseach of a Fine Gael-led coalition, in his capacity as chairman of the IFSC, told the European Insurance Forum Conference in May 2013 that we needed to put a rein on financial regulation. Some banks, he claimed, had handed back their licences because of oppressive regulation, regulation which was risk-averse. ome weeks later an American businessman, interviewed on an RTÉ radio news programme, candidly stated that one of the factors that attracted US investors to Ireland was our “low regulatory hurdles”.
Matthew Elderfield, while acknowledging the greatly improved staffing levels in the regulator’s office, has severely criticised the present government’s failure to implement recommendations he made before his departure from his position as financial regulator. No doubt, as soon as the Dáil committee of inquiry has completed its work we will be promised effective legislation and a robust regulatory regime. However, powerful forces will be working openly and behind the scenes to dilute or hinder these measures. Yours, etc,
DENIS O’DONOGHUE,
Countess Grove,
Killarney,
Co Kerry
Sir, - The old English verse quoted by GK Chesterton and related to us by Steve McGarry (Letters, May 2nd) might easily be attributed to John Clare as described by Brian Maye (An Irishman’s Diary, also May 2nd). Another of Chesterton’s observations was that there “are two ways to get enough. One is to accumulate more and more, the other is to desire less.” That statement would equally apply to corporations and the state, and not just the people. Perhaps we should be guided by poets and philosophers instead of economists. Yours, etc,
MICHELE SAVAGE,
Glendale Park,
Dublin 12
A chara, – Regarding the parliamentary banking inquiry: we already know that the bankers broke the law, cheered on, it seems, by state agencies; the country went broke as a result; and no one is going to jail for it. Will an inquiry tell us much more? And even if it does, what does it matter without more stringent laws and stricter enforcement? Is mise,
REV PATRICK G BURKE,
Castlecomer,
Co Kilkenny