Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Now, what ... when it was proposed that regulations were to be done ... completely separately, it has, it's come up on the screen. Thank you, Chairman.

When it was proposed that regulations should be done completely separately, it was very strongly resisted by the Central Bank who say in the last paragraph there, if we had it separate ... and you would be, if you like, as the first Financial Regulator, out on your own as a separate institution, that would lead, "to loss of regulatory expertise; difficulty in establishing an international reputation [...]; and duplication of supervisory effort.''

Isn't that exactly where we've ended up? That we didn't have the expertise, the international reputation was shredded and we're never sure what's the division of labour between you and the Central Bank under the, kind of, combined arrangements that resulted in the 2003 legislation.