Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. O'Connor, Mr. Lehane and their colleagues to the meeting and thank them for forwarding their opening remarks in advance in order that we could have the opportunity to go through them. I will start with the issue of Mr. O'Connor's disappointment with the comments made by some of the creditors at the recent finance committee hearings here. We can name names, we all know who they are. Bank of Ireland makes it very clear that it would veto any PIA which involved writing off some mortgage debt. Deputy Doherty in his questioning of Ulster Bank elicited from it that it has no intention either of signing up to a PIA where there is an element of mortgage debt being written off. Mr. O'Connor said in his opening remarks that if we hit a brick wall we will review this and we will make recommendations. I would submit to him that his organisation has hit a brick wall. Two of the major lenders in the country have made it perfectly clear that they fundamentally object and will oppose, at every opportunity, a fundamental pillar of the organisation's armoury, which is a PIA. What can be done about that?