Mr. Richie Boucher:

I beg the Chairman's pardon. I should have made it clearer in my opening remarks that we believe that house prices are stabilising. Our assumption was at 55% plus 10% in the event of a realisation. We believe that as a realistic assumption. It is not a homogeneous market. There are a number of different micro-markets. There are different prices. We believe that prices in particular urban areas have stabilised. In some rural locations, it is more difficult. Price discovery is difficult. One of our issues, because of the low level of transactions in the market, is ascertaining an appropriate price discovery. It is important that we take a realistic view.

Working with customers who are builders or developers, or in terms of repossessions, Bank of Ireland has been involved in the sale of more than 1,000 houses in this market and we are informing ourselves on those views. We look not only at what house prices are stabilising at, but at the rental markets. We have a buy-to-let book. We obviously keep a close eye on rentals in the buy-to-let book, and we see that rental levels are stabilising. Those are all indicators to us that they are stabilising, but I would concur with the view that in certain rural locations it is very difficult to get a market-clearing price because there is not enough liquidity. We try constantly to take a realistic view of the value of our collateral.

What I try to say in the assumptions is important. We cannot absolutely predict at a future point in time where we go. It is important that we try to demonstrate to our investors, and for anyone interested in our stock, or as creditors, what are our assumptions underlying our provision and forecasting.