Professor Patrick Honohan:

This is the way we are approaching the matter, with all our legal powers and as effectively as possible. It is a pincer movement. We are protecting borrowers through our code of conduct on mortgage arrears and we are using powers we could otherwise ignore to force banks to act when the people in them might think they can sit around and let the process play out. We do not see that as good for consumers, the economy or, ultimately, the banks. We are using prudential powers to enforce targets, and that is why the wording in the targets is prudential language.