Mr. Fergal Ó Brolcháin:

I am covering them for this committee. The ESM's direct bank recapitalisation instrument is still being considered at technical, senior official and ministerial levels. The euro area Heads of State and Government issued a statement on 29 June 2012 referring to the need to break the vicious circle of bank and sovereign debt. That work is continuing. In December the euro area Heads of State and Government mandated Ministers to produce a result by June. Work is continuing with a view to meeting that deadline. There are several issues to be considered, one of which is the extent to which there would be scope for retrospective recapitalisation in our case, with specific reference to our circumstances. These discussions are continuing and have not concluded. The Irish officials and Ministers are pursuing the Irish position, but other member states have other positions on what should happen.