Ms Isolde Goggin:

I will start, but I might ask Mr. O'Leary to comment in a minute. Regarding the banks, I would raise the issue of culture. Where were these decisions made and were individuals rewarded for illegally pushing people off tracker mortgages? It is important to understand the chain of command and whether, as the Chairman very rightly inquired, this goes to the very top. There must be accountability and we need to have understanding of culture.

I mentioned our own powers earlier. We would welcome the ability to impose fines on the basis of the civil burden of proof. Civil fines could be levied where there is not the degree of evidence needed to get into a full criminal hearing in the Central Criminal Court. One feature of our own legislation that I think is very useful is director disqualification. It is a real disincentive to engage in illegal conduct if people feel that not only will they be penalised for it, they will also be disbarred as directors for the next five years, or whatever it might be. If it is possible to have some of that brought in as individual sanctions in regulating the banking sector, that would be very useful for cases where the accountability goes right to the very top.