Banking inquiry report: Fianna Fáil had three chances to avert economic crash

The boom-time Fianna Fáil-led government had at least three opportunities to prevent or reduce the economic crash in the seven years before it happened but failed each time to take on board clear warnings from financial experts.

From left: Committee members Kieran O’Donnell TD, Michael McGrath TD, and Senator Marc MacSharry during the launch of the banking inquiry report. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

However, the then Fine Gael-Labour opposition made the same mistakes by failing to flag concerns, while state watchdogs did not stop excessive bank lending despite having the powers to do so and at times “edited” facts to hide the threat facing the nation.

The findings are made in the bank inquiry report, finally published yesterday after months of internal concerns that the year-long investigation into what caused the crash was destined to never see the light of day.