Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The last point I want to make is about moral suasion. You mention on page 97 of your report that the Financial Regulator had access to increasing capital requirements and moral suasion. I would like you to talk to us about what you mean by moral suasion. What do you mean in regard to appealing to the morality of Irish banks? I want you to answer that in the context of what we know happened in the banking system in previous years. Simon Carswell's book, Something Rotten: Irish Banking Scandals, lists the Irish Trust Bank, merchant banking, PMPA, the Irish Insurance Corporation of Ireland, Ansbacher, National Irish Bank, DIRT, off-shore tax evasion, clearing debts for VIP customers, AIB in foreign exchange transactions and AIB in the Faldor scandal. These are a number of what Carswell calls the "banking scandals". Appealing to moral suasion is something that you have repeated at this committee but how does that stack up, given the fact that we know what has happened in the past, and is that the principles-based or moral suasion that we should be following in the future?