Mr. Dick Spring:

At that time there was a level of mistrust, or to put it bluntly, the trust between the Department of Finance and the banking institutions was at an all-time low. I think neither side trusted the other. The Department was not happy with the information it was getting. Within two months of my appointment I was beginning to form opinions, to the effect that the crisis was deeper than the Oireachtas, the Government or the Department realised and I communicated that to the Taoiseach and certain actions were taken at that stage. I had one formal meeting with the present Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan. My then colleague, Mr. Declan Collier, who is no longer on the board as he left to take up an appointment in London some months ago, and I asked to meet the Finance for Finance. The Minister was accompanied by the Secretary General of his Department.