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

-----could you imagine how, to a member of the general public, that would look like a conflict of interest for somebody who had worked their entire life in regulation and Central Bank and got to the position of chief executive of the regulator, retired on a substantial pension paid for by the taxpayers, and then ended up taking a position on the board of Merrill Lynch and, subsequently, on the board of Permanent TSB?