Mr. Justice John Hedigan:

If it was a mistake, so be it. Our aim is to learn from our mistakes. As I said, we want to learn to walk before we run, but I am not sure I agree with the Deputy's analysis of the situation and I do not think the Ombudsman does either. The situation that was made quite clear to us was that unless the Ombudsman was told that his jurisdiction was not being challenged under section 51 - the time limitation - he was obliged to investigate whether there was a delay involved. The complaint he articulated to Deputy Michael McGrath was that it took him as long to do that as it would take to conduct the investigation. I do not know if there is a misunderstanding at work, but I do not agree that we came down on the side of the banks. The banks made no representations to me. As soon as I heard about this affair - I was deeply troubled when I did - I emailed all those who were invoking the time limits and asked them to come and talk to me about this troubling issue and said we would see where we would go from there. The whole issue then evaporated because they made their statements indicating that they would no longer do so and I am happy enough with that. Whoever was responsible for it, whether the board, the committee or members of the committee alone, I do not mind as long as what happened happened. It is a good step forward in that regard.