Mr. Charlie McCreevy:

I don't think ... I couldn't see for a moment how it would've compromised the role of the regulator in terms of the prudential supervision of Irish banks. And I'll tell you why I would believe that. There are many reasons why financial services have come to locate in Dublin or, now, in any part of the country. The main ... but the main reason for so doing, for the respectable funds, is to be ... is to be in an area, in a country, which they had ... is regarded as well regulated. That's what these firms and banks and institutions want to locate in Dublin for. You can make other cases about tax, etc., etc., but one of the primary reasons is to be located and regulated from a jurisdiction that's recognised as having good prudential rules and regulations. So it would be a negative, in the medium to longer term, for the regulator to not go about doing his job in a sufficiently robust way because the ... it would then get out that Ireland was not the place of proper regulation and, therefore, we would lose our cachet in attracting firms there. So, I do not believe that was the case.