Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If I could move on please, on page 8 of your opening statement you made what I find an astonishing statement, Mr. Walsh. At the top of the page, first paragraph, you know, you speak about the Central Bank-Financial Regulator and you say:

Contrary to some of the evidence that has been given to [the] Inquiry the [Central Bank-Financial Regulator] was far from toothless and where it had an issue, it was my experience that it had no hesitation in using its powers, albeit not always, in my view, in a sensible fashion. One such instance is when the [Central Bank-Financial Regulator] approved a reduction in the Society’s deposit ratio in June ['07] which would have facilitated substantial lending growth, had the Society not subsequently decided on its own initiative to curtail lending.

Is that not your job and the chair of the board and the executive of the institution in question, INBS, to curtail lending in a prudent manner?