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

Okay. Mr. Trichet, when this committee engaged with him - and the requirements for meeting Mr. Trichet would be that his engagement with us would be seen as testimony, would be seen as evidence and it would be useable with other witnesses and also useable in terms of the committee's final report. And when he was asked about the crisis period in around the timing of his letters between himself and the late Minister Lenihan, particularly the letter of 19 November, he said at the hearing in Kilmainham:

And, you know, we could also have continued on our side after having gone up to 100% of the GDP go to 200% of the GDP, and why not 300% of the GDP? Then what would be the Commission inquiry [referring to this committee] asking for? You would say, "Were you totally crazy at the ECB to continue, when we were going in the wall at 100 mph, to continue to provide liquidity and liquidity and liquidity?

So, Mr. Chopra, given your involvement with the process, is Mr. Trichet right or wrong in this regard? That if the situation hadn't been named in terms of the crisis that was evolving, and if action hadn't been taken, and the entry into the programme didn't commence in or around November, would the delay have actually cost Ireland more in the long term? And would it have required a more severe adjustment programme?