Learning the Hard Lessons from the Banking Inquiry

Senator Sean Barrett, Independent Senator in Seanad Éireann and member of the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry, delivered a talk entitled ‘Learning the Hard Lessons from the Banking Inquiry’ on Wednesday, 9 March in the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics.

The Irish Banking Guarantee of 2008 and subsequent 2010-2013 Troika Bailout was a national trauma. The Oireachtas Inquiry into the Banking Crisis was to outline the causes of banking crisis and subsequent bailout and provide guidance for future policy formation so as to prevent a re-occurrence. The analytical framework used by the Inquiry was termed the Bank-State-Property Nexus. Senator Barrett was the only independent member of the Inquiry. Senator Barrett outlined the lessons he learnt during the process of the Inquiry, what needs to be done in the future to prevent it and how students can use the materials published and collected by the Inquiry for future scholarship and research.

The event was organised by NUI Galway’s Whitaker Institute and the University’s Finance Society. The panel discussion was chaired by NUI Galway student and member of the Finance Society, Brendan O’Driscoll, with NUI Galway’s Professor Alan Ahearne, Head of Economics, and Professor John McHale, Director of the Whitaker Institute, participating.

Panel discussion: Brendan O’Driscoll (NUI Galway student & member of the Finance Society), Senator Sean Barrett, Professor Alan Ahearne (Head of Economics), and Professor John McHale (Director of the Whitaker Institute).