John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to just to refer ... Michael Casey, who is a retired economist with the Central Bank, publicly commented in October 2008 on the nature of close relationships between regulators and banks and I want to quote him again directly: "The close relationships between regulators and banks, difficult to avoid in a small country, will have to be ended." How would you describe, yourself, the nature of the relationships between the domestic banks and you, as chief executive of the regulator, in the period that we're discussing?