Professor Patrick Honohan:

Well, I ... first of all, I should say the ... those administrative sanctions ... I think they were only brought in in 2004, so that was .... you know, it was at a certain point. I'd like you to get a legal opinion rather than my opinion. My opinion is - and is in a lot of things - is go for it, the Central Bank Act gives us a lot of powers and that would have been the case ... you know, those are the powers there for a long, long time. So my belief would be try it - if it's challenged, if the court strikes it down, go to the Oireachtas and show ... and say to them, "Get it." So ... but you'll certainly find many lawyers and legal advisers to the Central Bank who say "No, Governor, you're wrong - you don't have that power." But I think that these things sometimes need to be tested.