Sir, – David Begg asks the valid question as to how “a country with a workforce of just 1.8 million can be saddled with a private bank debt of €64 billion? (Opinion, February 8th). The answer he gives, however, “that this debt originates from a buccaneering and corrupted euro zone banking system” just does not stand up to scrutiny.
By implication he is saying that our debts and our bank guarantee have nothing to do with decisions made by our most influential citizens in charge of our most powerful institutions during the whole of the Celtic tiger period.
All of the countries in the euro zone operated under what Mr Begg calls the corrupted euro zone banking system, but the majority did not end up having to be bailed out.
It is easy to blame foreign bankers, but the members of the workforce here are wise enough to know that much of the buccaneering, for which they are now paying, was done by powerful people within this State. – Yours, etc,