Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, Chairman. I welcome our visitors. There are some matters arising. I did not interpret Mr. Browne's evidence as hostile in any way. The matter of how I interpreted what he was saying yesterday only arose today.

I will move on to other matters. Does the training of journalists equip them to deal with the kind of crisis that this inquiry is investigating?

Reference was made to pressures that people exercise on editors. I think this will surprise the people watching at home. They do not ring up a judge before a case. They do not even ring up a referee before an important match. Therefore, the idea that so much of this influence is being sought to be exercised is quite a serious new finding for those of us outside journalism. I suppose it depends on what the bar of public opinion will decide about that.

Did the discussions with the former Minister, Brian Lenihan, include how important it was, in his view, that the banks should be bailed out?