Mr. Paul Gallagher:

Well, as far as I know, that was a very real concern, and I think it affected the way the matter was handled. That was a matter for the politicians as to whether they said they were in negotiations or not. But I know there was a concern to protect whatever leverage there was. It was felt that if we said, "We're in negotiations", then you're just there for the taking, you can't negotiate anymore, you've said you're going in and they set the conditions. And Minister Lenihan told me that there was very considerable pressure for Ireland to forego its tax rate, and the view was taken that, not only was this wrong but the economic revival that the package or the bailout was meant to encourage would itself be undermined, if Ireland had to forego it's autonomy over that. That was a very real issue, as I understood it.