Mr. Jeremy Masding:

I remind the Senator that I was very transparent back in 2012 that the bank was insolvent and illiquid. I was extremely transparent with the committee, particularly Deputy Pearse Doherty, with whom I had long conversations. In a regulatory system as of today, it is unlikely the bank would have been allowed to be stood up.

All I can tell the Senator is that we inherited what we inherited in February 2012. I can only comment on what has happened since that time. The fact that the bank exited the restructuring plan in 2018 would, I hope, give the Senator confidence that the bank is in a much better place, albeit that it still has many kilometres to travel. It is not my position to comment on what happened before 2012. I just know that I was tasked by the Government to try to do something with Permanent TSB and the management team has tried to do that day in and day out. I cannot comment on what happened before that.