Sir, – What happens when politicians get to grill bankers? Obfuscation and frustration. Though surprisingly good television, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance’s questioning of our banks made for a deeply dispiriting experience.
In spite of the best efforts of the politicians operating under incomprehensible time restraints, it became clear that little is clear – to anyone. Over and over, the bankers relied on professional jargon to avoid specific answers to specific questions, pleaded that they didn’t have rudimentary data readily available, and failed to acknowledge the disjunction between their supposed operating procedures and the actual practice evidenced by committee members.
One thing that became clear to me is that bankers live in a self-defining cocoon culture, uncomprehending of civic needs and the practicalities of daily life, and are impermeable to external scrutiny. I despair now that they can ever be brought to account for anything. – Yours, etc,
JOHN STEPHENSON,
Bessborough Parade,
Dublin 6.