Professor Patrick Honohan:

We have not audited 31,000 cases. We are trying to get accurate information from the banks, which produce what information they can, although it is not complete or satisfactory. I am quite dissatisfied with the presentation, which suggested that the Central Bank was in some way sitting back and waiting for the banks to do something. We have pushed the banks, the consequence of which is action being taken, including the sending of letters where that was going to happen anyway or where the banks did not have information sufficient for them to restructure loans. If we had told them that we would give them a pass to do nothing in such cases, we would never solve this problem and it would continue to drift as it has done for five years. It is in the interests of solving the problem. What I am saying is that it is in the interests of the borrower that this be solved instead of left to grow. I am not saying that I am happy that borrowers are being hit with these letters, as I am not, but it is better than a larger problem happening subsequently.