The former head of RTÉ News and Current Affairs has told the Banking Inquiry the broadcaster performed its public service role well in the period under scrutiny but it could have done better.
Ed Mulhall said that RTÉ's questioning approach led to some of its coverage being classed as contrarian and he said the then economics editor would have been put in that category by other media outlets.
He said that if there was a gap in coverage, it was the issue of solvency versus liquidity as regards the main banks.
Mr Mulhall cited several examples of RTÉs reporting during the period including George Lee's documentary Boom in April 2006 which he said was particularly significant not just for its provocative statement on the death of the Celtic Tiger, but more particularly for its analysis of personal indebtedness and the dependence of the economy on property-related exchequer funding and employment along with the real possibility that there could be a property crash.
He also mentioned Richard Curran's Future Shock programme in April 2007 as what he called another key moment.
It was followed by a debate on the following night's Prime Time between Morgan Kelly and Jim Power on soft or hard landings and he said it led to a period of sustained criticism of RTÉ, including a number of formal complaints.
Chairman Ciarán Lynch asked about the reaction after the programme.
Mr Mulhall said there were a number of official complaints which RTÉ successfully fought.
Paul Mulligan, RTÉ's commercial director, said that commercial revenue supplemented the licence fee and lessened the burden on households.
He said that at its height property-related advertising was 0.9% of advertising revenue and 0.3% at its lowest.
The financial sector as a total amounted to 4.6% of revenues at its highest but was generally at just over 3%.
Fine Gael TD John Paul Phelan asked if there had been any official contact in relation to a run on the banks.
Mr Mulhall said there was reaction to a Liveline programme which aired before the €100,000 deposit guarantee in September 2008.
The then minister for finance contacted RTÉ’s Director General with concerns about a run on the banks.
Mr Mulhall said the minister also contacted him directly which was unusual but it was a proper and in no way inappropriate contact, and he was concerned about the panic that might follow Northern Rock.
Mr Mulhall said the story was carried on the Six One News and it was accurate.
An interview with the Financial Regulator was conducted that night by Mr Lee and it ran on the Nine News.
Fianna Fáil Senator Marc MacSharry asked whether RTÉ sustained the property boom as suggested by Julien Mercille.
He said Boom and Future Shock were only two programmes versus many others promoting house-buying.
Mr Mulhall said RTÉ did not sustain the boom and he suggested that if Mr MacSharry wanted a numerical response, he would have to run through 120 programmes rather than dealing with the substantive issues as he preferred.
Mr MacSharry said the official description of Boom was that related to a hypothetical situation rather than a warning.
A former editor of the Irish Independent earlier told the inquiry that there was no conscious attempt on his part or on the part of the newspaper, to fuel the property boom.
Gerry O'Regan was editor between 2005 and 2012.
He said there was no hidden agenda to try to artificially bolster the property market for the period under review.
Mr O’Regan said economic coverage could not be conducted in an intellectual vacuum, and editors, writers, contributors, and analysts, could not but be influenced by the prevailing climate at a given point in time.
The overwhelming consensus was that despite the rapid growth of the construction industry - and the ongoing rise in house prices - the essential pillars of the economy were sound and if a bubble emerged, employment figures and positive government finances would mitigate against a serious economic downturn.
Former Financial Director of Independent News & Media Michael Doorly, said between 2002 and 2007, the revenues of the Irish Independent and the Sunday Independent increased by an average of 6.5% per annum, or a total of 36%.
Advertising and circulation revenues grew by 52% and 17%, respectively.
He said that while the increase in advertising revenue was substantial, in terms of the overall revenue mix, the shift was relatively modest.
In 2002 the proportion was 60/40% advertising/circulation, while in 2007 it was 66/34%.
This movement was not insignificant, he said, but neither could it be described as a paradigm shift.
Mr O’Regan said he was happy they gave proportionate coverage to the economy in light of its evolution and changing dynamics.
He cited their recruitment of David McWilliams as a columnist and he quoted from several of his articles warning of an over-reliance on credit and he quoted from a Brendan Keenan article from 2007 citing the possibility of a massive property crash.
Labour Senator Susan O'Keeffe asked whether Mr McWilliams was their only contrarian and whether they gave a balanced view or whether they gave more space to one side or another.
Mr O'Regan said it was difficult retrospectively to define more.
Ms O'Keeffe also asked about the paper's backing of the then government in the 2007 election.
Mr O'Regan said they were entitled to take political decisions but there was no direction to do so.
Asked about the acquisition of propertynews.com in 2006, Mr Doorly said it was not that they were buying into the property business but instead, they wanted to diversify into new media and relieve the dependence on newspapers.
Mr Doorly said the ratio in terms of advertising's share of revenue did increase, but advertising overall was growing at a faster pace.
He rejected a suggestion that there was an unhealthy dependence on property-related advertising, he said generally advertising is volatile in line with the economy.
Fine Gael Senator Michael D'Arcy asked about a Sunday Independent article which was complimentary about an unnamed bank boss.
Mr O'Regan said he could not comment on a separate paper and it would be like the Liverpool manager being asked to comment on the Everton back four.
Michael Doorly said the commercial side never sought to influence editorial, and editorial conferences were the domain of the editor.
Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins asked if the paper had fuelled and glamorised the property boom.
He quoted from the paper's Property Awards, “a glittering showcase of the cream of Ireland's property and development industries”.
He said seven of their winners ended up in NAMA and they included five of Anglo's top ten debtors.
Mr O'Regan said it had awards like other newspapers and it had to be seen in context, the paper tried to embrace various strands of opinion.
Mr O'Regan said the economic collapse was Ireland's Watergate story and unfortunately no one got it, not for the want of trying.
Some may have had a feeling but nobody could write it.
Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty asked about a 2011 Vanity Fair article by Michael Lewis on the Irish economy.
Mr O'Regan initially said he read the piece but later he said he did not.
Mr Doherty said the author said the Irish Independent had refused to publish it calling it offensive.
Mr O'Regan said he never received any piece from Morgan Kelly.
Asked if he followed up on the Vanity Fair piece, Mr O'Regan said it did not come under his radar.
Former Irish Times editor Geraldine Kennedy spoke of the rejection of a Morgan Kelly article in 2006 predicting a crash in the property market; saying he was the only one with that view at that time and the item had been rejected by a number of papers.
She said the business section in the Irish Times contacted him with a view to writing other articles on the issue.
She said there was never a point where she personally had suggested there would be a soft landing instead of a crash.
She also referenced the fact that David McWilliams had predicted a crash in 1999 - it didn't happen until "eight years later,” she said.
She also spoke about suggestions some journalists had got mortgages from a particular building society, saying that was of "another era", the parties concerned would have paid their mortgages off.
