Mr. John McCarthy:

I will try. For the purpose of assisting the Comptroller and Auditor General in preparing his report, given the way the situation has developed in recent years and in preparation for today, the analysis has been built over time. I would refer to it as being "pulled together" and it is offered in that vein.

As Ms Moylan stated, a clear decision was made at the 24 October board meeting to limit the authority's liability to €29 million in shareholders' loans and equity, plus €7 million in recourse finance, totalling €36 million. On 9 November and as Ms Moylan indicated, the banks raised the issue of a further guarantee of borrowings by the shareholders. In effect, the banks were seeking shareholder guarantees to cover €100 million of the debt financing. As a 26% shareholder, the authority would have taken on €26 million of the overall guarantee. The intention was to cover that amount, plus a pro rata share of interest for a period of two years, and that the total liability should not exceed €35 million. This was in the shareholders' agreement between the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, DDDA, Donatex Limited and Mempal Limited as the three shareholders. The actual guarantee into which the authority entered with the bank provided for a €26 million capital guarantee and a guarantee on 26% of the interest, but there does not seem to have been a reference to the overall €35 million cap on liability, as there had been in the shareholders' agreement. Obviously, the bank was not a party to the shareholders' agreement and was not bound by it. The conclusion of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report seems to outline how the exposure increased before ultimately settling on foot of the engagement with NAMA.