Mr. Paul Maloney:

This is what has me so exercised and this is why I waited four years to come to this committee. Ms Brennan attended a committee of the Oireachtas and, without a scintilla of evidence, referred to these conflicts. One can have two types of conflict, perceived conflict and actual conflict, in regard to how they are dealt with in one's code of conduct. Ms Brennan rode roughshod over corporate governance by saying, without a scintilla of evidence, that these perceived conflicts were suddenly actual conflicts. I reject that. The Deputy may have seen my opening statement and with his indulgence I will repeat it. I never saw an act or omission, interference or any comment made by an Anglo Irish Bank board member or the other directors that, in my view as chief executive who came from outside the authority and from a State organisation, in any way interfered with the process.

The Deputy is correct that there was a perceived conflict and everybody at the meeting acknowledged that, but they dealt with it. All of them declared this to the Ministers involved, Deputies Howlin and Quinn, at the beginning. It was also declared to the entire board. It was stated at the board - I can only go on the evidence given to me - that neither director was involved in actual lending credit committees in their bank. I must be honest, open and transparent in the way I do business, but I must also report how business is done. It is my honest evidence that I never saw that conflict as being an actual conflict until the night before the 24th, when Mr. McNamara told me for the first time that he was switching from Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS, to Anglo Irish Bank.