The former CEO of Irish Nationwide, Michael Fingleton, will appear before the Banking Inquiry this morning.

The controversial former chief executive is expected to tell the inquiry that the building society was still solvent on the night of the guarantee.

Michael Fingleton is probably best remembered for receiving a bonus of 1 million euro for his work as chief executive in 2008.

That was the year of the banking crisis that forced the state to introduce the crippling bank guarantee.

And Fingleton was paid the bonus at around the same itme as the state was forced to pump over five billion euro into his ailing building society.

But that bonus - and his refusal to repay it - is likely to be just one of the talking points when he appears before the Banking INquiry at half-nine.

He'll also be asked about whether his board of directors had the competence to oversee Irish Nationwide's aggressive lending - and whether the state was competent enough to stop it from getting out of hand.

But members are expecting a robust defence from the former CEO - who's likely to tell members that Irish Nationwide WAS still solvent when the state stepped in with its crucial guarantee.