Mr. Brian Cowen:

There is a role then, just to make the point, as to what can be referred back to from a regulatory process like that based on whatever it is, section 33AK of the banking Acts, whatever it is, regarding confidentiality. I mean, these are the constraints, legal issues that have to be respected in this context. And it's not that you're hands-off. It's a question of knowing, you know, what is the remit of information that's available to you, given what is the legal position regarding banking law in the country. Now, as I say, the best way to deal with any issue like that when it comes up is to make sure that you get the people who have the statutory authority to deal with it immediately. They have an independent status given to them by the Oireachtas for good reason to avoid arbitrary intervention by anybody, including public representatives. And I don't want ... I didn't want any suggestion to ever emanate from the way I handled business that I was in any way seeking to influence the work of independent regulatory authorities. You can't have that. It's a very bad principle from which to operate.