Professor Philip Lane:

We must be very careful about predicting what is going to happen, because in some future court case, such comments could be used to say that we prejudged the issue and so on. I do not want to predict what will happen. We keep an open mind. We know what is possible in regard to individual accountability. Ms Rowland can elaborate on how we go about the evaluation of individual accountability. I remind the committee that while we have said we have a lead role in this, it is also the responsibility of the senior management of the banks. They have individual responsibility to report to us and to the Garda if they see direct evidence of violations of the regulatory code or the criminal law. There is a reporting burden on individuals in the banks. We have just issued letters to remind them of this. They have been instructed to write back to us, confirming they are aware that this is their responsibility.