Mr. Simon Carswell:

I believe so. I think the debate at that time arose from the scandals that are outlined in Something Rotten: Irish Banking Scandals, the first book. The regulatory regime that was established in 2003 was in direct response to some of those scandals that emerged, particularly with customer funds, the likes of the bogus non-resident accounts arising from the DIRT issue and also some of the overcharging by some of the other banks in the market and the purpose of that regime was to protect the consumer.

In terms of the creation of a regulatory regime, in 2003, the regulator was set up as an independent entity within the Central Bank. The focus, in establishing it in that way, was too much on the consumer.