Sir, – Having read Alex Brummer's book Bad Banks, concerning the UK bank scandal, it occurred to me that it may be too late for the Dáil inquiry into our banking collapse.
Brummer argues that a repetition of the property price crash in Britain and elsewhere is inevitable, basically because governments have proven that they simply cannot cope with banks and because most of those who oversaw reckless lending in the past are still in place.
He goes on to say that there has been no revolution in banking practice. All of which raises the question as to whether the Dáil banking enquiry should be focused on the future. The dogs in the street know what happened in the past. Besides, a witch-hunt now would be just that, with no one likely to go to jail. At the heart of good banks, Brummer concludes, must be good people.
A revolution in selection and training of personnel, therefore, would appear to be what is now required. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK KELLEHER,
Walnut Rise,
Dublin 9