Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I can understand that completely. The difficulty we have here is, on one hand, in welcoming your assessment that it added cost to the ... it added fiscal cost to the situation, we must also try and assess what other possible options there were, and so, while I can appreciate fully that it makes one uncomfortable to have to consider this, in considering our work here, we must try to see were there alternatives. And, I suppose, given your experience and the seniority with which your position comes, I am asking you to highlight if you feel that if the blanket guarantee was not opted for, what option was better for limiting the fiscal cost, either to Europe or the Irish people, and also in looking after the responsibilities which John Hurley, as Governor of the Central Bank and ECB central governing council member, felt that he had.