Banking Inquiry: ‘All banks solvent on guarantee night’

Former financial regulator Patrick Neary still believes all banks were “solvent” on the night of the bank guarantee, despite admitting that his repeat of the view in an infamous Prime Time interview three days later was “optimistic”.

Mr Neary retired months after the crash on a €134,000 annual pension and €630,000 lump sum.

At the banking inquiry yesterday, as politicians spent eight hours attempting to uncover what caused the crisis, Mr Neary repeatedly blamed other groups for the failure to identify hidden problems before it was too late.