Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

Yes, this e-mail came in from Merrill Lynch ... I think it ... it is telling for the following reason; because both me in the NTMA and my colleague Mr. Whelan and Merrill Lynch - and Merrill Lynch weren't at Government Buildings on the night of 29 September, they were in London - the first line of this e-mail says "Below are ... initial thoughts ... the Government should think about [if it was] to take over an institution". So therefore, the view of Merrill Lynch and ourselves the NTMA, was that there ... the meeting that was going on was about nationalising an institution. It wasn't about a bank guarantee. I responded to Mr. Matthaeus of Merrill Lynch at 1.32 in the morning and I said;

The Government is likely to guarantee the debts, other than equity and hybrid and undated debt, of the six financial institutions with immediate effect. We need your advice on how to deal with rating agencies and institutional corporate investors.