David McWilliams has told the Banking Inquiry that the chaos which led to the bank guarantee was totally avoidable.

The economist and broadcaster says the collapse was "incredibly predictable and absolutely preventable".

He gave evidence to the inquiry about how people who raised concerns about the banking sector were ignored.

He says the chaos that led to the bank guarantee could have been avoided years earlier:

The Banking Inquiry was also told this morning that former finance minister Brian Lenihan felt he could not believe the advice given by his own advisors.

David McWilliams says ministers in both Fianna Fáil and the Green Party called him because they could not trust or believe the advice they were given.

He says that meant the bank guarantee was necessary, in order to buy time and establish the full facts of the banking crisis.

Mr McWilliams told the inquiry about one meeting with Brian Lenihan where concerns about the banks were first beginning to emerge, and that Mr Lenihan said he was "getting different numbers all the time":

Prof Terrence McDonough from NUI Galway criticised the ESRI, saying the institute failed to predict the crash, and has been wrong in projections about the recovery.

He told Senator Susan O'Keeffe that the institute had an appalling track record:

Originally posted at 10.24am