Dr. Donal Donovan:

Not in a direct sense. The bailout was the result of Ireland's insupportable debt problem. We had a huge budget deficit that could not be financed because nobody would lend to us by November 2010. Why was that? We had a major budget problem that was quite independent - I must stress this point - of the size of the banking debt. It was simply to do with the difference, on a day-to-day basis, of running Government. That was one component. On top of that were the costs which stemmed from the guarantee. If the €64 billion had been less - for example, if it had been €40 billion - I do not know-----