Mr. Donal Forde:

Through that time, Deputy, I worked in an environment where the OECD, the IMF, the ESRI, the Department of Finance, the Central Bank, the majority of the domestic commentators all expected ... the worst expected was a soft landing for the Irish economy. I worked through a time when all analysis was that there was a shortage of housing stock, okay? That there was a demographic that meant the demand for houses was going to increase. So, I think I would have been wiser than most if I had seen what was coming, but I didn't see it. And it's, as I have said, a matter of great regret but I can say I acted in good conscience, in good faith. I, at no time, ever had a premonition of what was going to happen. If I did I would have acted differently, but I didn't.