Professor Patrick Honohan:

The position currently, which may not remain the position, is that we see sufficient positive progress to ensure we do not need to talk sanctions. We see banks moving in the right direction, and ask them to get things even better. Sanctions could be introduced but that is not where we are at now. If the system was not working at all - I know there are deficiencies - we would take action. However, that action while it might be more drastic, might not be effective and could have bad side-effects. We have things up our sleeves which we will not do if this system works. It seems to be working but at a pace which is unacceptable to all of us. However, it is probably the best approach.