Mr. Tom Considine:

First of all, in the case of business lending, the reality is that we want to be the number one business bank in Ireland. We want to lend money because if we do not do so, we will not put the bank on a sustainable basis.

Second, as my colleague has just said concerning the lending that we have done, to be absolutely clear, some €3.5 billion plus of new money has gone into the system. We talk about additional new money. In other words, if a person has an overdraft of €100,000 and he or she wants it increased to €150,000, we count the €50,000, not the €150,000.

There is no doubt that businesses have difficulties, but there are systems in place. First of all, we are getting about 1,000 applications a week. Approximately 82% of those are successful. Where people have a problem there is an appeals system. In addition, they can go to the Credit Review Office if they are not satisfied. The Credit Review Office is an innovative and useful addition but very small numbers are going there. In time, it will be possible to assess how credit performed that was granted as a result of that intervention. These systems are there and we can be judged by reference to that when the time comes, although it will take some time.

If anyone has problems with Bank of Ireland, I am happy to provide contact numbers with the committee when I leave here today. Those numbers can be called and if, in the unlikely event that it does not resolve the problem, I would ask members of the committee to give me a call. That is an open offer.