The Banking Inquiry has heard that a warning from the European Commission to Ireland in 2001 "went against the wind" as the country was "the poster child".

The Commission's Director-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, Marco Buti, admits they did not signal their concerns strongly enough, but he says concerns were only "half followed".

The inquiry heard earlier that the financial regulator must accept responsibility for the banking collapse.

However, Marco Buti says Ireland's lending boom was also facilitated internationally.

Mr Buti is appearing before the inquiry as it continues assessing the context for the banking crisis here.

He says while Ireland's lending soared because of cheap money on the markets, the financial regulator wasn't keeping a close enough eye on the banks.

Mr Buti also stated that financial regulation was "incomplete if not faulty".

He told the inquiry that Ireland's lending soared because of cheap money on international markets:

He also told the inquiry that in 2001 Ireland was doing so well, nobody was listening to the Commission's concerns:

Dr Donal Donovan, former Deputy Director of IMF, also spoke at the Banking Inquiry today. He spoke to The Right Hook about what was said today.

He says "the whole of Irish society was in some way or another involved in this - the media, the economists, banks, everyone who was getting huge pay increases in the civil service... They were all implicitly going along with this."

Originally posted at 11.05am