Professor Philip Lane:

Let me emphasise heavily that what is the situation now, where we have quite extensive enforcement powers, is not the situation that applied before 2013. Before 2013, the level of fines we could levy may well have provided very little by way of threat to the banks or a serious way to modify their behaviour. That is not the situation now.

Under the current supervisory approach, given to us by the Oireachtas, we can be much more effective in supervision, backed up by serious enforcement powers over institutions and individuals. The regime will be better able to deliver consumer protection than what was in place at that time.