Michael Somers: scathing

It makes "no sense" to blame the collapse of Lehman Brothers for our problems while the true impact of Nama has been to destroy confidence in our banks, according to the influential former head of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

In a scathing critique of claims by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern among others, Michael Somers instead suggested the demise of Lehman may have prevented an escalation of the challenges which this country now faces.

He also questioned why shareholders in Irish banks were "wiped out" but bondholders were protected and suggested Anglo Irish Bank should have been nationalised at an earlier stage by a government which had become dependent on the "fools gold" of tax from vat and stamp duty on property

"[The banks] were like children let loose in a sweet shop… It makes no sense to blame the Lehman collapse for our problems," he wrote in yesterday's Irish Times. "In fact, if Lehman had not happened our banks might have continued to borrow from abroad, creating (if that were possible) an even bigger problem."

He added that "What has really brought us to our knees... is the inevitable but calamitous consequences of working the Nama project. No other country in the world ever engaged in Namaism in the way we did," he said.