Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Okay. Can I go very quickly to your written statement, page 3, and this relates to the International Financial Services Centre and I quote, which you did already, some of it:

Other factors which I consider influenced the approach to regulation and supervision were [the Financial Regulator's] mandate to promote the financial services industry and the existence of the International Financial Services Centre ... The desire to portray Ireland as business friendly led, I believe, to a reluctance to introduce prescriptive rules and a particular focus on keeping costs down [and then continue a little while on] ... In addition, the strategic decision that there should not be two different regulatory regimes - one for domestic firms and another for those in the IFSC - meant that a different approach was not taken to the domestic financial services sector. This decision was driven by a concern that the IFSC might otherwise be categorised as an off-shore centre with associated negative connotations.

Could I ask you, Ms. Burke, would it be fair or unfair to interpret that statement as meaning something like this, that in order that the IFSC was not seen as an offshore island-type financial centre with a more lax regime than normal domestic banking and an unsavoury reputation, perhaps, that regulatory standards for the domestic banking sector as a whole were significantly lowered to avoid making what was happening in the IFSC look bad?