Madam, – I anticipated a flood of correspondence on the remarkable articles by Eddie Molloy (Opinion, April 8th 9th) on the performance of the Department of Finance leading up to the economic collapse. Why the deafening silence?
In year three of the worst recession in living memory we have a fairly shrewd assessment of the conduct of the banks, of the regulator and of the Government. But where was the Department of Finance and what advice was it giving to its own Minister and to the Government? The Minister for Finance of the time, Brian Cowen TD, defends his decisions on the basis that he was acting – or not acting – on “the best advice” available to him. If that is so, we should be very afraid.
Mr Molloy’s insightful juxtaposition of the department’s performance with its own self-image is a matter for the most grave concern. And what has been our response to this dereliction of performance? It has been to put the same unchanged department in charge of virtually the entire banking sector! Mr Molloy has opened a debate that is central to our recovery and to our future. Public service reform is not only for the little people. Why the reluctance to join the debate? And when will we be able to study the reply from the department?
– Yours, etc,