Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Well, I think we were, I was, you know, we were only three weeks in office, so it was driven at that stage by the political side through the ... I mean, it was a commitment we made in the election manifesto. It was reflected in the programme for Government, always with the assent of the European Central Bank and, in the early days in government, we said if we're recapitalising the banks, we'll implement this. But it didn't ... I'm saying the policy driver didn't come from officials in the Department of Finance, it came from Cabinet and the parliamentary party, because the election was just over and we had made this commitment.