Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the witnesses for being here today. I said at the very outset this morning and I should repeat with them present that I acknowledge the huge amount of work that was done initially by Peter himself. I have seen the work he has done and also the work that is and has been carried out by the trust over the last number of years by many people across all the services it provides. I acknowledge the huge shadow that has hung over that really good work. It is important to say that from the outset.

I also want to summarise what was said in the previous session with the regulators. There was an acknowledgement of the work the new board and many of the new people involved are doing to try to ensure that those services continue to be provided. Some of us would say, and I might do so myself, that in many ways, the trust was too big to fail for the system. It could not allow a situation where the trust would collapse because of the range of services it provides. Without the efforts of many of the witnesses, that would not be possible. I acknowledge all of that.

The last nice thing I will say is that at the housing committee, Mr. O'Brien did acknowledge that the trust would come before the Committee of Public Accounts as soon as the accounts were published. Again, I appreciate that. Mr. O'Brien also said that he expected robust financial questioning at the Committee of Public Accounts that he might not have got at the housing committee, so I will step straight into that mode. I have sat on the Committee of Public Accounts for nearly six years. What we heard this morning from CEO No. 2, Mr. Doherty, really was breathtaking. I will give Mr. O'Brien an opportunity to respond to what was said this morning. Did he see the testimony that was given?