Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In Mr. Cardiff's testimony and his witness statement before the committee here, he commented upon Jean-Claude Trichet's letter of 19 November - this is the letter that preceded Minister Lenihan's letter - and in his testimony he says, "In many ways, this letter was entirely superfluous since it was already clear by the time of the letter that the Government was going to opt into a programme." And he went on to explain that there was discussions already in that regard. And speaking on the same related matter when this committee met with Mr. Jean-Claude Trichet when he appeared before the IIEA hosted event at Kilmainham in 30 April this year, he goes on to say, "As you know, we could also have continued on our side after having gone up to 100% of GDP to go to 200% of GDP, and why not 300% of GDP? That would" ... Or, he then says "Then what would a Commission of Inquiry be asking for?" referring to this inquiry. You would say, "Were you totally crazy at the ECB to continue when you were going into the wall at 100 mph to continue to provide liquidity and liquidity and liquidity?" So Mr. Cowen, could I put the question to you: was Mr. Trichet right? If this action hadn't happened and the entry into the programme had been delayed for a further period, would the cost of the bailout actually have been bigger to Ireland, and if you could answer that, please?