Mr. Padraic Kissane:

The bank will ask how any person could accept such a loan. This is the defence continually thrown at me. When they ask whether a solicitor's advice was obtained, I ask who underwrote the loan. As I said previously in this committee, in 2007 the branch manager told me that he was required to give out €7 million in loans every week and that the bank did not give a damn how he did it. With regard to the farmers, an issue that should be challenged with the pillar banks is the withdrawal of the discretion from local branch managers to put in place arrangements for families they have known for years. This is now the function of head office. This is a major issue. The discretion given to a local manager to take the chance he or she previously took with a farmer is gone. This is now a matter for the underwriting department - hidden people.