I have begun this task with a presumption that the situation that has emerged in our banking system does reflect a failure of the regulatory system.
However, I would like to stress that the organisation which I lead, the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland, has over the years delivered a wide range of key services to the Irish economy, including consumer protection, consumer information, effective electronic payments systems, avoidance of excessive inflation as part of its Eurosystem objectives, the supply of liquidity to the banking sector, and the production and issuance of bank notes and coins, to mention just a few, none of which is called into question by the terms of reference of this report.