Mr. David McWilliams:

This is the very interesting thing. At no stage was I an adviser to the Irish Government. At no stage was I a senior civil servant. At no stage was I a central banker advising. At no stage was I in the regulator's office. I was one individual writing from my desk about what I saw going on. I have to be very clear about this. There were dozens of paid advisers deep in the system writing reports and advising. What struck me as interesting was that despite having dozens of advisers they missed the whole thing. I was writing on my own, as I had been since 2000, about what I felt was going on in the economy, and I still write on my own about what I think goes on in the economy.