Patrick Neary was Financial Regulator at the time of Ireland's financial crash. At a public appearance before the country's Banking Inquiry in 2015, he admitted it was a mistake to print golf balls featuring the Regulator's logo. He also confirmed he told Taoiseach Brian Cowen, that all the country's banks were solvent on the night of 29 September 2008, when those same banks were guaranteed by the country's politicians. Economist David McWilliams has described Neary as "the worst financial regulator the world has ever seen."