Mr. Dick Spring:

For all directors being appointed to all the banks, in fact to all the institutions. We also had a briefing from the senior partner in Arthur Cox on company law requirements and fiduciary responsibilities, some of which I would have recollected from my days in the Kings' Inns, but it was useful to get an update on it. Effectively, we did not receive what I would call instructions on how to conduct business on a day-to-day basis from the Department of Finance. In my time as a director I communicated at least on one occasion with the late Minister for Finance and on another occasion I communicated with the Taoiseach directly.