Professor Patrick Honohan:

On the question of transparency of the internal rules and practices of the banks in dealing with borrowers, I do not have control over it but I would like to see the banks being much more transparent about what procedures they follow and what is and is not available. The idea that deals can be made but that nobody knows about them and there is a pretence there are no deals is destructive for everybody, including the banks. I have advocated to the banks that there should be more transparency regarding their rules, but it is not something I have power to enforce.

With regard to transparency about who and what types of people got what deals or restructures, the Deputy can see that the data is all in development. We have the wrong terminology, of which I have made criticisms - flippant criticisms. This is very much a moving target. My aim is to communicate more about this. We have just conducted a large survey of household debt, income and wealth and we are researching that. We conducted a smaller survey a year ago and we have produced some output from that. This is more in the research area so it will evolve over time. I am very much in favour of transparency. When there is no transparency I worry about the sense of injustice people feel. The committee here is talking about unequal treatment. It is much worse if the unequal treatment is not even known than if people might say, "I was fortunate I went to this firm" or "I was less fortunate that I went to that firm" or "I paid a higher rate of interest but I got a better deal", and so forth.