Mr. Peter Nyberg:

The terms of reference did not require us to look at the fiscal policies or the role of the budget or such matters. We concentrated on what we were asked to do, which was to look at the financial issues. Before the crisis the Department of Finance was not very much into financial stability issues. They were the remit of the Financial Regulator and the Central Bank. The Department of Finance was in contact with these institutions but, as far as the commission could determine, it did not interfere and it was also, as the Department, Central Bank and the Financial Regulator understood it, not their business to do so. Those are two of the reasons the Department figures in a fairly limited way in the report.