Mr. Donald Mackay:

I am comparing the situation now in Ireland with the past, when there were increases in rates. The level of rates that we are being charged has remained consistent over recent years and we are happy with the situation in that regard.

On the issue of upward-only rent reviews, we have a mixture of freehold and leasehold stores and are affected by historic rent agreements that are upward-only in nature. Obviously, that cannot apply going forward but historically, it does apply. Of course, for a retailer like Aldi, once landlords have us in a commercial rent situation, they are not going to yield on the agreement that they have with us and we understand that. However, the market, as far as commercial rents are concerned, is not growing. That means that when the rent reviews come around, while our rents will not go down, they are unlikely to go up because of the prevailing market situation. We will not get the benefit of rents reducing. We miss out on that because in the current climate, rent reductions would be likely, were it not for the upward-only contracts.

In terms of what we do and do not declare about our profits, we feel that we have an obligation to provide a fair price to our suppliers, to pay our staff appropriately - in fact, they are paid above the market average - and to offer fantastic value and quality to our customers, while at the same time, maintaining a sustainable business with an appropriate level of profit. We think we do that. In fact, we know we do that, so we are comfortable with the situation-----