Mr. Domhnall Cullinan:

The Deputy's opening remark hinted at the alarming thought that the liability could be higher. I accept Deputy Humphreys' point that it is not just a question of the jump. The rise from €775 million to €1.65 billion was exponential; the sum has more than doubled. I do not expect that again but I would not like anyone to leave with the impression that the €1.65 billion is absolutely static. We all hope the figure will be much lower. Claims concerning people with brain injuries, for example, develop over time so one cannot know the absolute cost until the end of the process. It is important that whatever we can say in this regard is understood.

A couple of points were made on gifts. They were really what I would describe as dividends. One might ask the difference. It was just a mechanism for paying money up through the group for what I assume were tax-efficiency purposes.

As for anything to do with adding to the personal wealth of anyone's family or anything else like that, I have no idea. We were the supervisors of Quinn Insurance Limited and not of the Quinn Group or any particular individuals or individual shareholders of that group. Barlo Financial Services Limited was the group treasury function of the Quinn Group and, in that regard, it would not be unusual for dividends to go to a group treasury function.

As for the supervision, I have spoken about this previously in terms of the under-resourcing and similar issues. I have spoken about the additional powers we were given and I do not wish to repeat myself on that point, given the time available to the joint committee. One important lesson learned, which has been picked up in respect of both fitness and probity and in the acquisitions directive that came into force in 2009, is about dominance. It also is very important that we have good governance within all these companies, which is a vital point to understand.