Mr. Pat McArdle:

I have a very similar experience to Mr. Beggs. I was in the Department of Finance too. I went on those missions to Brussels, to the OECD. I met the IMF when they came in. In fact, it was my job for a long time to organise the meetings with the IMF. When ... afterwards when I was in Ulster Bank, we met the IMF, I recall. I don't actually recall meeting the OECD, but I have ... I do not agree with Mr. Beggs, my esteemed colleague, that the banks influenced those ... I think it's an important point to make. They certainly came and asked us a pile of questions, right. I never had the feeling that I was ... I never saw the reports, so I couldn't try and influence them. And I never had the feeling that they went away massaged, quite the opposite in fact.