Mr. Fergus Murphy:

With regard to the main lending rate for mortgages, the EBS rate is 4.33% against the AIB rate of 4%. The market average is approximately 4.35% so EBS is still slightly below the average. EBS is a separate legal entity with separate funding vehicles, securitisation vehicles and wholesale funding. As a smaller organisation historically it paid a little more for its funding than AIB because it was lower rated and smaller.

Since the cost of funding the EBS balance sheet - it is a separate legal entity with a separate balance sheet, board and governance - is a little bit more expensive, it would be appropriate that its pricing would be at par or slightly higher. To build a sustainable model, the EBS moved its pricing to a sustainable level prior to AIB during the crisis.