Mr. Maurice Crowley:

I thank the Senator for her questions. I should clarify from the outset that we are not in any way against having an individual accountability regime and nothing included in our submission should be read in that context. We fully accept the requirement for an individual accountability regime and fully intend to work positively with the Central Bank and the Department of Finance on the introduction of such a regime. There will not, as the Senator might suggest, be blanket resistance to the introduction of an individual accountability regime. What we are cautioning is that there is a need to tease through the manner in which will be introduced. There are two things we all want to achieve, namely, individuals taking responsibility and being accountable for their performance and, at the same time, embedding a customer-centric culture in the banks. The two are not mutually exclusive. Depending on how the individual accountability regime is introduced, the individual responsible may focus narrowly on the responsibilities defined for him or her and, in a sense, be held accountable for what has been assigned to him or her, but we also want him or her to do so in a way that he or she will take the wider interests of the institution into account. It is about getting the balance right. I do not accept that there is anything in the submission that suggests we are against having an individual accountability regime. We are not.