Mr. Richie Boucher:

Debt forgiveness is not a policy of the bank. We have a responsibility to a wide range of stakeholders. Nine out of ten of our owner-occupiers often struggle to meet their mortgages, so we must have faith and they must have faith in us that they will be treated fairly. We work extremely hard on restructuring mortgages where we can and in particular dealing with customers' cashflow issues. We believe the solutions we offer to customers are solutions that keep them in their family homes wherever possible. That costs the bank money.

Sometimes we can look at these things in one particular way. My job is to look at the wider spectrum and how each thing influences it. The bank must be profitable. If it is not profitable, we cannot lend the money into the economy that it needs. That is a commercial and strategic objective and a fact of life. If the €3.9 billion in cash that has come from Bank of Ireland was not provided, tax rates would need to be higher and services or State investment would need to be lower. The money must come from somewhere. It is a zero sum game. A restructure or forgiveness to someone costs someone else money and it comes to the heart of the bank's capital, objectives and repayment to the taxpayer.