Dr. Cyril Roux:

This is our daily job. It is not the case that one wakes up on a particular day and realises that this is happening. We engage with firms day in and day out. We supervise them. I do not agree with the Deputy's presumption that our job is to ensure there is no erosion of the capital base. Erosion of the capital base is allowed in the insurance cycle. Shareholders have a right to engage in that behaviour as long as we are satisfied that the company's solvency is not at risk. As a result of our actions, since I arrived I have not seen any of the actors we regulate going bust. They did not go bust because we monitored them. We asked for and demanded parental support, reinsurance cover and capital injection. This was done in due time so that during the period in question, none of the Irish policyholders suffered. The only people who actually picked up the tab during that period were the policyholders.