Charlie McCreevy has denied that he was reckless with the public finances, or that he should have spent more.
The former finance minister says his record in office has been misrepresented and he stands by his record.
The former Fianna Fáil TD gave evidence at the Banking Inquiry this afternoon.
Mr McCreevy was finance minister from 1997 to 2004. He subsequently was named EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2004 to 2010.
He began his evidence with a vigorous defence of his record running Ireland's finances.
The inquiry went into private session for some time after the former minister was accused of failing to answer questions.
Mr McCreevy would not give a direct answer when he was asked if he thought Ireland had experienced a property bubble.
The former minister said he wouldn't answer questions that didn't relate to his time in office - to the frustration of Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty:
He also denied that the SSIA scheme was designed to win an election.McCreevy said he was "not enough of a genius" to design a scheme that could get Fianna Fail re-elected twice.
The former minister made the comments during five hours of evidence at the Banking Inquiry this afternoon.
He says the scheme - which was announced in the run-up to 2002 - was simply a plan to reward savers:
The Banking Inquiry has also heard from Ann Nolan - the second secretary-general at the Department of Finance.
Ms Nolan has worked for the Department of Finance since 1985 and has held her current role since July 2010.
