Mr. Pat Houlihan:

With regard to Senator Cullinane's point, there is a question of eggs in baskets as well as prudential supervision and auditors. There was a disproportionate sense in which these institutions were lending to particular niches of the economy and we know what occurred.

Deputy Calleary called for more robust and challenging proposals. I see these as reasonably robust and challenging but if Deputy Calleary has any suggestions that could make them more robust and challenging at this point in the negotiation process, we could see if we could champion them. Arguably, they are fairly robust and challenging. If we have another outing we could roam over them to see what people think and we may get to put the mirror up to them or see them in the looking glass such that we can see them properly. People's attitudes may change.

Senator Cullinane called for more discussion and debate. Our side is perfectly happy with that and if this is the forum the Senator has in mind for more discussion we are happy to carry it on. He stated that audit is a mess, but perhaps my comments have addressed that already.