Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Okay. I want then, if I may ... I asked Mr. McCarthy yesterday about the fact that some of his statement looked like some of yours and he explained that he'd been briefed, and you acknowledged this morning that you were briefed also, by Ulster Bank, and given that you both left the bank ... all of you left the bank. I have to say though I am very puzzled by the response that you've made in relation to the Financial Regulator, that ... we have letters from 2004 ... 2003, 2006, 2008, all raising very serious queries about what was going on in the bank, and yet, yesterday, Mr. McCarthy talked about the methodology that the regulator chose to use, to come and review what was going on, and again, Mr. Torpey, this morning you talked about the nature of engagement - they weren't on the ground, they wrote their observations, it ... they weren't fully appraised of the condition or the position, they were bulky and complex affairs, files to trace through. I'm very puzzled, I have to confess, that your testimony about these very serious issues is so very similar to Mr. McCarthy's, that you're both concerned about the process of the Financial Regulator. I would argue that you've effectively thrown the Financial Regulator under the proverbial bus, that it was his methodology, or his offices methodology that you're questioning, rather than telling us exactly what was going on at the ... in your own bank.