Mr. Brendan Halligan:

Thank you. Thank you very much indeed for that very important analysis, which we're going to study very carefully and which I will probably invite you to expand upon later as part of our research programme.

Now, at this point I want to welcome the members of the Oireachtas committee of inquiry into the banking crisis, led by their Chairman, Deputy Ciarán Lynch. I wish to welcome the committee staff and other Members of the Oireachtas who are here present.

We will now have a question and answer session, which will consist of four parts. First, I will read out two questions which have been composited from those submitted by members of the institute and to which President Trichet will reply. Second, there will be a serious of six questions to be put seriatim by members of the committee in the form and in the order which the committee has determined for itself and to which president Trichet will reply. Third, I will put two more questions to President Trichet again based on a composite of those submitted by members of the institute. Finally, there will be a second set of six questions to be put seriatim by members of the committee in the form and order which the committee has determined for itself. The proceedings will be brought to a close by brief remarks, very brief remarks, by myself.

So question No. 1, which president Trichet has in front of him is a composite of those presented by Michael Tutty, who heads our economic governance group, and by C.J. Walsh, a longstanding member of the institute.

The question has three parts: 1. There have been significant developments recently in the EU on banking supervision and bank recovery and resolution, as well as on economic governance through the fiscal compact, the six -pack and the two-pack. Do you think that these moves are enough to complete EMU or what other developments do you think are needed?; 2. What would be the best institutional relationship between EU member states refusing to participate in the euro and the eurozone?; and 3. When and how will the economic governance in the EU be brought within the Community method?