Mr. Jim Brown:

There are two issues but they are related. Clearly the country has experienced financial difficulty during recent years, there has been no doubt about that. The Government's commitment in delivering on those commitments has resulted in Ireland being seen in a positive light by international markets and that is reflected, for example, by the bond rates investors pay in the market here as well. The financial difficulty that Ireland as a market got into was broader than simply the issues the Government is dealing with more directly in terms of the country.

There are people who are in deep financial distress as a consequence of the financial crisis that has unfolded and a significant proportion of our customers have been impacted by that. This is why we are providing significant resources in terms of the number of people to talk to our customers and the solutions we are putting in place with the ultimate aim of helping them through their financial distress but, where possible, to try to keep them in their homes as well.