The former chief executive of National Irish Bank (NIB), Mr Jim Lacey, yesterday rejected suggestions that there was "slack enforcement" of bank regulations during his tenure of office.
The committee chairman, Mr Jim Mitchell, said a common theme which had emerged from the inquiry was that, despite warnings being handed down, there was "on the ground, very slack enforcement in most cases".
He put it to Mr Lacey, who was head of NIB from 1988 to 1994, that "quite incredible statisics" had emerged in NIB about the state of its documentation "only five or six months after you ceased being chief executive".
Mr Lacey replied that action was taken when audits had highlighted problems. Only one problem had emerged on non-resident accounts during his tenure - in Castlebar, Co Mayo. A major investigation was carried out and the manager was demoted "and placed in a head office position where he would have had no role in relation to deposit accounts or indeed any kind of accounting records of customers".
Mr Lacey was asked about 1994 theme audit findings which stated that 40 per cent of sampled declarations were defective, that charity declarations were not seen for 53 per cent of accounts and that 91 per cent of sampled Special Savings Accounts (SSAs) withdrawals were in breach of notice requirements.
He said he ensured immediate action was taken when audit reports came on his desk. But he said the 40 per cent of declarations figure was a "headline" one, partly caused by deficiencies in the bank system, and not reflecting the situation.
He also questioned the size of the samples used for the charities and SSA figures. "I don't know whether it is 91 per cent of 50 accounts or 91 per cent of a large number, because there would have been a significant number of Special Savings Accounts in the bank. Everybody was aware of the procedures and they should not have been breaching the notice period when there was withdrawal." Chairman: Of course they should not, we all know that, but we want to know why they did.
The chief executive of NIB, Mr Don Price, said the bank regretted the "procedural shortcomings" indicated in various audit reports which related to missing or incomplete declarations.
An offer of £413,000 to the Revenue Commissioners last year represented the bank's "best estimates for liability" on DIRT over a 10year period. The NIB-CMI scandal is being investigated by High Court-appointed inspectors, the Revenue and the Garda.
"During the last 18 months, National Irish Bank has been through the most intense scrutiny. Let me just stress that we are absolutely determined to make our company exemplary in terms of control and compliance," Mr Price said.