Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis

Nexus Phase

Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

Chairman, I would agree with Mr. Daly here. I mean it's very hard for us because we weren't there at the time, to see what type of relationship it is but I think in one of the questions that you asked which forms part of the booklet, you would see that the top 29 debtors, in table 6 of the supplementary booklet, borrowed €34 billion and while it was spread around by banks, there was certainly a concentration of lending around one institution. So I think the issue really comes down to the fact that, and this has been said by people in the banks before, and certainly by others, is that relationship lending was a big part of it. You know it's almost like in terms of a horse race where you're backing the jockey rather than the horse. It's the horse that has to win the race for you, that has to run the race for you.