Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Duffy and his colleagues and thank them for their honest and open approach in trying to rebuild the business which has been tarnished as well as damaged. I wish to corroborate what was said in that it is open to any of us to get in touch with AIB. I did so and I am grateful because a case in south Kerry was solved to my satisfaction.

I accept what was said about staff. I have dealt with AIB for a long time and know many of its staff. I appreciate its difficulties in motivating them because morale is low. However, I salute what Mr. Duffy and his team are trying to achieve. Approximately 2,500 staff will leave, 1,700 of whom will have gone by the end of the year. However, the bank is also taking on people, particularly new graduates.

Mr. Duffy has said the bank is ahead in lending, but that seems to be in conflict with what we heard from Deputy Kieran O'Donnell. I ask Mr. Duffy to clarify the point. What does he mean by saying AIB is ahead in lending? If I understood what was said correctly, 41% of SME loans have been or are being restructured. Does this mean that 59% have yet to be restructured?

If the bank is hiring new staff, one assumes they will need training. I gather some of the new staff might be graduates and perhaps the bank might allow them to deal with the restructuring because the most important area on which the bank should focus is new lending. I appreciate that we do not want to have more bad debts and that many people are reluctant to take on more debt, but there are genuine cases in which credit is needed. It is very important that the right staff deal with such cases. Coupled with this, I welcome what was said about the meetings in branches in Kilkenny and Cork. There seems to be a slight drift of control of lending away from head office towards branches. Is there a new authorisation or credit limit in operation or due to be put into operation for branch managers who know what the situation is locally? That would be welcomed if it was so.

I ask Mr. Duffy to answer my questions on lending and the hiring of staff. Staff are employed on an agency basis for NAMA. How many AIB staff are working full-time for NAMA, dealing with receivers and so forth? What level of remuneration is the bank receiving from NAMA for such work?

I loved what Mr. Duffy said about being back in profit by 2014. We all hope that will be the case.

Mr. Duffy dealt with the issue of a sale to foreign investors and I totally accept his answer. He also spoke about the economy. I ask him to give us his prediction as to when he expects us to return to growth. We are all very interested in his answer.

I wish Mr. Duffy and AIB the very best. We have a vested interest in AIB becoming profitable as soon as possible for the sake of the taxpayer, but we hope it will happen without people being screwed, if I may put it like that.