Politicians eager to get their teeth stuck into debates about changing society as well as ways to restore cash-starved services have tabled several motions for the new Dáil.

The High Court has agreed to hold off on an order for costs against Michael Fingleton until he decides whether he intends to appeal.

Michael Fingleton has been ordered to pay the full costs of his failed legal action against the Central Bank, which could be up to half a million euro.

In our year in review series, we look back at September 2015.

Former Irish Nationwide chief executive Michael Fingleton has insisted he “paid a personal price” for the impact of the economic crash, despite receiving a €1m bonus in 2007 and walking away in 2009 with a massive €27.6m pension pot.

The banking inquiry is unlikely to publish its report into what caused the economic crash until January, leading to the belief it may never see the light of day if a snap election is called.

A judge has ruled that Seán FitzPatrick can get a fair trial despite eight years’ publicity leaving him with a “negative” reputation.

The Central Bank said it won’t say whether it will use special powers to investigate any of Ireland’s main banks that survived the crash only with the help of bailouts.

Former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi met Irish government officials in late 2010 about a potential €1.4bn Bank of Ireland investment — but pulled out because he did not feel “comfortable” with our control of the financial crisis.

The Central Bank has for the first time used special powers to launch an inquiry into the former Irish Nationwide and a number of unnamed managers connected with the former building society which could result in the regulator levying personal fines of up to €500,000.

Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who presided over the country’s slide into economic chaos, has blamed bankers as the main culprits.

The jury has been discharged in the trial of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick over the alleged failure to disclose millions of euro in loans to the bank’s auditors.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has claimed he was “very forthcoming” with details on the Siteserv deal despite failing to highlight problems during Dáil questions over a four-month period.

Demand for high-quality office accommodation in the sought-after Dublin Docklands shows little sign of abating as one of the final office buildings in the vicinity hits the market with a €75m price tag.

Dermot Gleeson came before the banking inquiry not to make excuses but to provide explanations.

Senior managers at AIB were getting €100,000 annual bonuses during the property boom, despite the fact the lender was breaching financial regulator rules.

A state body specifically tasked with giving technical financial advice to the Government was locked out of discussions with ministers on the night of the bank guarantee, and had just “90 seconds” to raise concerns.

Former Government minister Mary O’Rourke has voiced concerns about the banking inquiry making any allegations against her nephew, the late Brian Lenihan.

The jury has been sworn in for the trial of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick, who is accused of failing to disclose the true value of multi-million euro loans to the bank’s auditors.

A report on the health of the Irish banking system — commissioned by the financial regulator in 2008 and relied upon by taoiseach Brian Cowen to justify the bank guarantee — drastically underestimated the extent of losses that would be made.

Way back in the mists of time, while studying business at second level, one of the most basic questions set forth in a textbook was: ‘What is the role of a bank?’

The Government should have nationalised Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide in September 2008, replaced the management teams, and put in place a much more limited guarantee for the two banks, Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan has told the Oireachtas banking inquiry.

Trinity economics professor, Philip Lane, has undertaken a piece of work that will be every bit as valuable in understanding the nature of the recent banking crisis as the unfolding Oireachtas Banking inquiry.

The nation's crippling bank bailout has cost taxpayers an estimated €40 billion to date, the Governor of the Central Bank revealed.

The Government has said it could turn a profit on the record funds pumped into three surviving bailed-out banks.

The Irish State could recoup more than €29bn injected into AIB, Bank of Ireland, and Permanent TSB during the financial crisis, according to the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan.

Banks have been ordered to reveal full records of any links between bonuses for top officials and the volume of property loans during the boom as part of the State’s investigation into the economic crash.

The Banking Inquiry is to examine if there are links between lucrative bonuses and the surge in lending which fuelled the property bubble.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has ruled out an investigation into the level of competition in the banking system.

Fianna Fáil has admitted it should not have allowed itself to be "threatened" by the ECB in the run up to the €67.5bn EU/IMF bailout in November 2010.

This week the European Commission sent a strong piece of advice to the Government that it should press ahead with a budget adjustment of at least €2bn in the October budget.

Looking back over the events of the past seven years, it is hard to believe the Irish economy and its financial system finds itself in the situation that it is in.

Over the past few days, politicians and regulators have reassured angry and bruised taxpayers that another bank meltdown will never happen again.

A law firm has been retained by KPMG, the special liquidators of IBRC, to decide whether legal action should be taken against KPMG as auditors of the former Irish Nationwide Building Society.

Former Irish Nationwide chairman Michael Walsh wrote to the late minister for finance, Brian Lenihan, warning him against bank mergers as the financial crisis escalated, according to a letter obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Cosying up to corporates or multinationals is generally never in the citizens’ interests.

If the Government is successful in its attempts to get a bank debt recapitalisation from the ESM, then it is likely to get only a portion of the €30bn it has requested, according to a troika source.

Mortgage holders tied to loans with Irish Nationwide face being “thrown to the wolves” or unregulated firms and left without financial protection, it has been warned.

PREDICTIONS are a mug’s game. So, instead in looking forward to the unknowns of 2014, it’s better to consider the pertinent knowns. Here are seven of my markers for 2014:

Ajai Chopra, former IMF reviewer for Ireland, has said it was unfair for Irish taxpayers to suffer the cost of bailing out the banks when senior bondholders got their money back.

There is no clear cut argument why Ireland should get a retrospective bank recapitalisation through the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Then again, there is no clear cut argument why Ireland should not get such a deal.

The IMF has said that Ireland could have saved billions of euro if it had been allowed to burn the bondholders at some of its banks.

The High Court is to rule on a challenge to promissory notes by United Left TD Joan Collins.