Mr. Domhnall Cullinan:

In terms of our engagement with the FSA, and how the concerns expressed were brought to our attention, that would have been in the context of our ongoing supervision with the firm. It would not be unusual for us to have a relationship with a supervisor in another country where they have a physical presence, which is the case both in Northern Ireland and in Manchester. The concerns were expressed in that context. I hope I did not leave the committee with the impression that we did not act on the concerns, as we did, and explanations were sought from the company and answers were provided. There were a lot of rumours circulating about the company but, unfortunately, when one needs to act and go before the High Court to apply for administrators one must have firm, tangible evidence. When that was available, we did act.

Deputy Doherty asked a question of my colleagues about the certainty around the €1.65 billion. It seems to me that what has caused an awful lot of the anguish is the jump from the €775 million to €1.65 billion. As I said in court last month, the work the administrators have done is based on a robust process. One will not see anything like that size of an increase again but reserve estimation is not static. I would not like anyone to leave the meeting with the impression that the amount could not go up incrementally again. Everyone is working towards reducing the call in so far as it is possible. The administrators are judging their performance on keeping the amount to within the range of €1.1 billion to €1.3 billion. From my perspective and that of the protection of the policyholders of Quinn, it is very important that they make adequate provision, whatever that will be. As Deputy Doherty said, the claims were there on the day the company went into administration. The frustration has been in trying to get to that and to get to how bad it was. We are where we are now but there is no absolute certainty. One cannot have absolute certainty on the final figure but I sincerely hope it does not reach €1.65 billion.