Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 21 February 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Banking Sector in Ireland: Discussion (Resumed)

4:00 pm

Mr. Padraic Kissane:

I wish to clarify that. That is a difficult statement to make. A person may be in a court and about to give evidence. Will it ever get to that point? The person on the stand is going to have a difficulty because the questions are going to be put. The person would be under oath in a court and is going to be asked difficult questions.

Let us go back to the Central Bank. I am not saying that all is perfect in the Central Bank. However, two enforcement investigations are currently under way. It is now industry-wide. I absolutely concede that it is late – that is for sure.

One of the reasons the Central Bank is inaccurate on the numbers is because it does not know the numbers. The banks themselves are telling us they do not know the numbers. The definitive numbers are still evolving.