The former Chief Executive of the IBRC has alleged a senior Department of Finance official insisted an executive should accept a lower bid in the sale of an asset.

Mike Aynsley has told the Banking Inquiry there should be a record of this in emails at the now liquidated bank.

In his written statement and again in oral evidence he claimed the official said the Finance Minister would be satisfied if the bank accepted a hypothetical lower bid in a future sale because of the identity of the higher bidder even if that resulted in the loss of €100m.

Though originally scheduled to be questioned separately, Mr Aynsley and former chairman of Anglo Irish bank Alan Dukes are being questioned together due to time restraints.

In his opening remarks, Mr Dukes says the Government couldn't really have looked at liquidating Anglo at the time of the guarantee in September 2008, but he believes it was solvent: 

Earlier Fintan Drury, a former director at Anglo Irish Bank, denied that the bank was discussed during a 2008 golf game with then Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

The friend and advisor to Mr Cowen said if he wanted to lobby him it would not have been on a golf course.

He said a dinner in April 2008 with the Anglo board was "completely unremarkable," and that the golf game and dinner that summer was about getting perspectives about the economy in general and not banking.

Mr Drury said the conspiracy theorists about the golf game are wrong.

He also said he has been "compromised" in his evidence at the Banking Inquiry, because of its decision not to publish written evidence from David Drumm.

Mr Drury, who is also a longstanding friend of Brian Cowen, says the decision left him unable to address some key points in his testimony.

As he finished giving evidence, Mr Drury expressed his annoyance at the situation.