Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As we have a quorum, I'm calling the meeting into public session. Is that agreed? As we have a quorum, the Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis is now in public session and can I ask members and those in the public Gallery to ensure that their mobile devices are switched off. Today's session 1 is a public hearing with Mr. Patrick Neary, former CEO of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority and in doing so, I would like to welcome everyone to the 30th public hearing of the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis. Today, we continue our hearing with senior figures from the Central Bank and Financial Regulator who had key roles during the crisis and before.

This morning and this afternoon, we will hear from Mr. Patrick Neary, former CEO of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority. In this morning's session, we will focus on the period of Mr. Neary's tenure up to October 2007, while the afternoon session will focus on developments in the period from November 2007 to January 2009.

Patrick Neary joined the Central Bank in 1971 and, in 2003, was appointed prudential director of ISRA; in 2006, we appointed chief executive of the IFSRA, a position he held until his retirement in January 2009. Mr. Neary, you are very welcome before the inquiry this morning.