Mr. Brian Cowen:

Well, the point I'm making, Chairman ... I don't really ... I'm not in any way questioning the methodology, I'm just making the point that, having looked at it, one would not think that there was full employment, one would not think that we had created 580,000 extra jobs, one would not think that we had record foreign direct investment coming into the country. There obviously are risks at all times. In a small, open economy like Ireland, risks have to be assessed. It is true, in the context of the work that this inquiry has to do, that there was a misjudgment of risk in relation to the banking sector, a misjudgment of risk in relation to the cross-border effects of globalised capital markets. We weren't unique in that - that's the reason why we had a global financial crisis - but I take the point that, you know, I'm not here to suggest that all was well; otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place.

But I do make the point that if you look in a balanced way at the assessments of risks, that whilst risks are mentioned in various stability reports, you also look at positives and you see what the overall assessment is.

To answer your question directly, the Financial Regulator and the Central Bank had been set up in this new statutory arrangement 2003 and was bedding in, I suppose, when I arrived. It was clear to me that there were good working relationships between both offices but that the heads of both sides were working hard to make sure that there was a good relationship established. I was never ... it was never indicated to me during my time as Minister that there were problems in that area. As you'd know from the evidence that has been given by the personnel concerned in these organisations, there were clear statutory responsibilities that they both understood.

And the question of the Department of Finance advice is obviously you take advices from everywhere, you take ... and you'd obviously take it from your Department. But at the end of the day, Government makes decisions, ultimately, based on not just technocratic advice but where they see identified need. We have a democratic mandate here as public representatives to address the needs of the people. And I was very much of the view that to build in the gains that we had built up over previous years we had to play catch-up. We had, for the first time, in ... probably since the history of the State, a rising population in our country. We had overcome the historic problems of under-investment and under-employment in Ireland. We were, thankfully, having an expectation where we could marry responsibility with ambition and there was no doubt in my mind that there was a need to make sure that the benefits of our economic prosperity were broadened to the greatest number of people possible within our stay.