Professor Patrick Honohan:

I have said it. They really could not have liquidated that bank until after the guarantee ended. Can I quote one letter? The members might be annoyed. It is the letter of 19 December 2008 from me, as a university professor, to the then Minister, the late Mr. Brian Lenihan. I will pass it to the committee. The final paragraph states that, "if this reasoning is correct, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Anglo should be treated as insufficiently capitalized, intervened and wound up in the manner outlined above, thereby potentially saving the taxpayer billions." If anybody thinks I keep on chopping and changing my mind, I held the same view in December 2008 as I do today.