Mr. Alan Dukes:

I am not being smart, but the Deputy has asked questions about the promissory note and the payment of €3.1 billion in March. I will take the Deputy at his word, as this issue has already been addressed. If the Chairman will permit it, I will ask Mr. Bradley to discuss it again in one moment.

The Deputy will not be surprised to find that I will disappoint him again. To put it at its simplest, my job and that of the bank's board and management is to pick up as many of the pieces left after Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide went bust as we can. I take no responsibility for the bailout or for decisions on the guarantee. I would be happy to engage in a philosophical discussion with the Deputy about other issues, but I must deal with the situation on the basis of current Government policy with all of the influences that come to bear on it. The IBRC has met the repayment of bonds falling due in accordance with current policy and legislation. Had we been told or legislatively obligated to do something different, we would have done so. We are like the legionnaire - do this and he does it. We are subject to other peoples' orders.

We do not pay IBRC's executives millions of euro. I am not being smart with the Deputy, but we dealt with the issue of the chief executive's salary a few moments ago. We will happily rehearse it if the Chairman will allow us.