Mr. Charlie McCreevy:

----- is somewhat else. I applied to Irish Nationwide Building Society, sorry myself and my wife applied for Irish Nationwide Building Society, for a loan. In all, I got many loans personally over the years from many people, and I only got one ever before for Irish Nationwide in 1984 - 1985 when I neither was a Minister or had been a Minister at that particular time. I was elected in '77, I just applied for it in the normal way and in 2006 I applied for it in the normal way because I had a relationship with that particular institution. It was got nothing to do with ... I could do.

I was out of Finance at the time. I was in the European Commission and there was nothing to do with Irish Nationwide or anything else. In all my years getting loans, some for myself, but mostly during my time as a partner in an accountancy firm, I would have got hundreds of loans or facilities for clients of mine from all types of institutions, and individuals, I never, ever, in all those years, ever knew it to be the job of the borrower to know what the processes were of the lender as to how he was going to get the loan. All I ever did, for either clients or myself, was to apply, and we received the loan.