Professor David Farrell:

Obviously, I do not know the details of the banking crisis in nearly as much detail as members of the committee. I did not even live in Ireland during those years, but based on what I have learned from the banking reports thus far, there is a general sense that regulatory authorities of varying types all the way down to government took their eye off the ball. If government, through all of these regulatory authorities, can be accused of having taken its eye off the ball, it is pretty safe to say the Oireachtas also took its eye off the ball.