Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

The big issue here is that the two main banks had deleveraging targets to meet. Until they met those targets, they would be constrained in lending. That is the reality. They both met their deleveraging targets. Bank of Ireland met it earlier this year and it was announced earlier this week that AIB had met its deleveraging target. As we move forward one will see them probably becoming more active lenders into the market. Also, the big difference between early last year and now is that more international players are prepared to bring either real money into the country or to lend it. International banks are prepared to lend into the Irish market to fund people to buy property. That was not the case early last year.