Mr. Richie Boucher:

We will come back to that issue.

On slide 16, because the point is of relevance and interest, we show the challenged SME and corporate loans and the number of customers who have moved to a default scenario. With the indulgence of the committee, I will refer to slide 10 because part of its questions concerned what we were doing with SME customers. Defaulted loans at the end of June amounted to €2.9 billion, which is similar to the amount at the end of December in our Republic of Ireland SME lending book. As customers move in and out of default, I will refer to the December stock of defaulted loans at the end of June, which is a particular focus and for which we have set targets endorsed by the Central Bank. They are not public targets but ones we set for ourselves. It is also important to reiterate that we set our own targets for mortgages. Of the €2.9 billion at the end of June, we had restructured or resolved approximately 50%, while another 20% had offers outstanding. I expect our target which we have shared with the Central Bank is that of the €2.9 billion stock at the end of December, 90% will have been restructured or resolved or we will have offers with the customers. Excluding the €2.9 billion figure, in our accounts at the end of June, we provide information on SME corporate, commercial real estate and land and development loans not in default where we have provided for forbearance. Loans worth €1.3 billion to Irish SME customers at the end of June had been given forbearance without being in default prior to that happening.

With regard to the bank's business as a whole, slide 17 reiterates the size and scale of our business, including the number of consumer business customers, those in our wealth management business, primarily in New Ireland Assurance, and SME and business customers. We have 250 branches and our branch footprint will broadly stay the same. We are investing heavily in our branch footprint. There is some reconfiguration, particularly in city centre branches and we are opening new branches. We have opened two new branches in the past six months and anticipate opening further branches as we look at where populations are moving. We are investing heavily in online banking, e-banking and other solutions for customers. This is I hope of benefit to the committee in respect of take-up. I can give an update on the slide's figures which refer to the first quarter. For the first half, based on Central Bank statistics released in the past week or so, Bank of Ireland accounts for approximately four out of ten new mortgages. In the life market we wrote about 24% of the new business. In terms of SME lending, excluding corporate lending and restructuring, Bank of Ireland accounts for over 50% of new SME lending. When we talk about statistics like this, we exclude restructures. When we say we have made loan offers to customers for new and increased lending, that excludes restructures. We have a figure of €1.9 billion in the first half of June. My colleague, Mr. Gerry Prizeman, is focused on getting to €4 billion. In terms of money drawn down, we have a figure of over 50% market share based on our own figures against the Central Bank of Ireland.

The committee's primary focus is on our Irish business, but, given the taxpayers' investment in Bank of Ireland, it is important that we recognise our other businesses. We have a substantial business in Great Britain. We are the sole financial services provider for the British Post Office which has 11,500 branches. We have access to a bigger branch network than all of the other British banks combined. We have a significant corporate business in Ireland. We have 30% of the market and over 50% of the multinational corporations. We have been working with the Government and have a particular focus on public private partnerships, including the N11 and school bundles. We have brought our expertise, experience, capital and liquidity to that market.

In respect of our key objectives, in summary, we are delivering against all of our key strategic objectives as shown on slide 20. Slide 21 shows our performance in the first half of 2012, the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2013. For all of our key financial metrics, with one or two small exceptions due to specific factors, we are showing strong momentum in our performance against our key objectives.

Slide 22 shows the taxpayers' investment in Bank of Ireland, the cash returned to Bank of Ireland, the preference share stock the State holds in Bank of Ireland and the 15% shareholding. The bank's market capitalisation, as of last night, was at a figure of €6.7 billion. It has been a significant focus of the bank, in particular in the past four years, that where the taxpayers have supported Bank of Ireland, we will reduce the risk to the taxpayer, reward and repay the taxpayer. We also provide significant support for the economy, which is in our commercial interest. We raised capital in the private markets not because we had a problem but because the people who invested in us believed in the future of Ireland and Bank of Ireland.