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14 J. Banking Reg. 1 (2013)

handle is hein.journals/jlbkrg14 and id is 1 raw text is: Original Article
Financial and regulatory failure: The case of
Ireland
Kenneth Patrick Vincent O'Sullivan
is a PhD student in the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick, Ireland and member of the FS
Regulatory Centre of Excellence at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, UK. He has previously worked in
economic and research positions for the Industrial Development Agency Ireland, Forfds and Bank of Scotland.
His main research focus is on investigating the interaction between financial regulation and macroeconomic
cycles. He holds an MSc Regulation (Research) from the London School of Economics, an MEconSc from the
National University of Ireland, Galway and a BA in Business Studies from the University of Limerick.
Stephen Kinsella
is a lecturer in Economics in the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick, Ireland. He is the
author of four books: Ireland in 2050: How we will be Living, Understanding Ireland's Economic Crisis:
Prospects for Recovery, Quick Win Economics and Computable Economic. He has a BA in Economics and
Mathematics from Trinity College, Dublin, an MEconSc, MA and PhD in Economics from National University
of Ireland, Galway. He also holds an MPhil and PhD in Economics from the New School for Social Research
in New York. His research spans the area of computable economics, health economics and experimental
economics.
Correspondence: Kenneth Patrick Vincent O'Sullivan, Department of Economics, Kemmy Business School,
University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
E-mail: kpvosullivan @gmail.com
ABSTRACT The article chronicles the evolution of financial regulation in Ireland, with particular attention
given to the roles, responsibilities and actions of those authorities responsible for maintaining financial
stability. It examines the role of financial regulation during the property bubble and subsequent bust, in
particular, the huge increase in property-backed lending, which fuelled its growth during the mid-2000s and
contributed to one of the largest banking failures experienced by a developed country since the great
depression. We investigate the impact of ongoing government support to the banking system and the damage
that has been done to public finances since the banking crisis.
Journal of Banking Regulation (2013) 14, 1-15. doi:10.1057/jbr.2011.30; published online 18 January 2012
Keywords: 2008 banking crisis; regulatory failure; Ireland; principles-based regulation; public debt

INTRODUCTION
Ireland is experiencing a deep financial and
economic crisis, rooted in a contraction in
residential and commercial property markets
combined with a sharp decline in economic
activity. The crisis is mainly domestic in nature
and can be traced to the liberalisation of
financial regulation during the 1990s, the
adoption of principles-based regulation (PBR)
during the start of the property boom and

expansionary fiscal policy propagated by a series
of governments, which stoked the property
bubble.
Following the crash in property prices,
which have fallen by over 50 per cent since
its peak, the balance sheets' of Irish banks have
been severely damaged. Its binge on property-
related lending has resulted in its capital base
being destroyed, and decades of steady progress
and integrity eroded in just a few years. Market

© 2013 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1745-6452 Journal of Banking Regulation Vol. 14, 1, 1-15
www.palgrave-journals.com/jbr/

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