mr president i am pleased that this is before us here this evening
i have to say that one of the points that is very rarely made is that until recently the public sector in ireland was being regulated by the private sector it was being regulated effectively by the credit rating agencies and the markets
i am one of those who welcome the fact that we got away from the private sector and at least we have the shield of the ecb the eu and the imf in the circumstances we are in
i might not agree with the exact package but i think it is a better position for us to be in than to be at the mercy of the credit rating agencies and the markets
the markets are supposed to be free i think that is something we might have a debate on some other day
but in relation to the credit rating agencies one of those agencies was getting usd eight hundred million a year for rating structured finances
their impartiality really is being called into account and when we look back on what they did in the past and even when we look back on what they do now i think we will look back in dismay
it is time they were called to account and i am glad that there will be stronger supervision for these bodies
