Mr. David Duffy:

On this point, I respect everything Ms Muldoon and the regulators have had to say. They have a difficult challenge to address in this complex transition in the banking environment.

On the specific concern that AIB was waiting for some solution in the economy, I can tell the committee that that is absolutely not so. The bulk of the senior team and others who are not here have hardly had a weekend day free. We are working around the clock to develop, if one thinks about it, one of the biggest financial services firms in the country to service this debt restructuring. Second, we had to seek approval from the regulators and others for the very products that would be effective in providing the solutions. Third, we have a complex debt restructuring to take care of and balance it with moral hazard, which is not an excuse. When one has 85% to 90% of one's mortgage holders paying their mortgages, rushing out and putting a temporary or quick and expedient solution in place for those in distress would be complex and, ultimately, damaging to the economy and those individuals. At the same time as developing that capability which has been an enormous task, as I stated, we have addressed 33,000 private dwelling house, PDH, customers in stress, 70% of whom have been in a position to make their payments. There is always an element of truth in these statements, but we are working around the clock to develop advanced capabilities. At the same time, we have not ignored the reality and tried to address all of these customers. We are very advanced in the SME sector, too. We have an objective of within six months having complete coverage of all SMEs in distress and solutions on which we will work with them.

On the question of whether we are or have been waiting for something, the answer is, "No, we have not." At the same time, we respect the fact that the regulators would like us to proceed and be more aggressive in our execution and that there are stresses for people who are living on the edge. We are trying to address them. There are no expedient solutions, but we hope to demonstrate in the next 12 months our absolute commitment by what we do, not by what we say.