The former leader of the Green Party has defended the Budgets imposed by his party - saying they were always careful to punish rich people hardest.

John Gormley has told the Banking Inquiry he is proud of his party's accomplishments in government.

He says that while the austerity measures required were tough, his party did the best it could in the circumstances:

John Gormley has also insisted he agreed to the bank guarantee in 2008 because he believed it was a liquidity issue with the banks, rather than a solvency one.

He called on the inquiry to call current Green Party leader, Eamon Ryan, saying that he dealt with banking issues for the party.

The former Tánaiste Mary Harney also gave evidence to the inquiry this afternoon.

She says she is proud of her achievements in government, but that her one major regret is not asking more questions about the idea of a so-called 'soft landing' in the property market.

The evidence of John Gormley and former PD leader Mary Harney contradicts other witnesses who said the nationalisation was due to corporate governance issues at the bank.

Mary Harney told Pearse Doherty that she was certainly told prior to nationalisation that insolvency was an issue, though could not be certain exactly when:

Ms Harney was a member of the Dáil from 1981 to 2011, held several senior posts in government and was Tánaiste from June 1997 to September 2006.

She was also leader of the Progressive Democrats party between 1993 and 2006 - and again from 2007 to 2008.

Mr Gormley was a member of the Dáil from June 1997 to February 2011 and was environment minister during that time.

He was also leader of the Green Party from July 2007 to May 2011.

Meanwhile a former director of EBS earlier launched a blistering criticism of lending practices at the building society.

Ethna Tinney, a former member of the EBS credit committee, said she was "inundated" with e-mails from senior managers making loan proposals on behalf of developers.

She said she was asked to reply to those applications within two days, and that if the loan was not approved the business would go elsewhere.

She also spoke out against 'securitisation' - the practice where the bank would package mortgages and sell them off to other investors.

Separately, the Banking Inquiry is still awaiting a response from the Director of Public Prosecutions on the witness statement of David Drumm.

The DPP raised concerns earlier today at the proposal to publish Mr Drumm's written statement.