Professor John FitzGerald:

In respect of Nationwide UK, it was a survey of savings. There is a range of these surveys which are sponsored or where data are provided in the case of Permanent TSB, but that is not really research; it is data collection where we are happy to work with other bodies. The NAMA-Irish Banking Federation situation is different. There is a housing research programme and we are happy that a public body and the banks are involved as we feel they balance each other. There is a steering committee involving the Department of Finance, the Central Bank and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. We feel that once there are enough different funders, as well as a broad public remit and an understanding that we can and will publish without censorship, this works well.

We feel that the input, the suggestions that they have made, have been helpful. There is a working paper of mine now which is funded as part of that. We feel that it has worked well and if it does not work, then one gives up on it because the funders have got to understand that one is going to do one's own thing. In the energy area we would have a lot of different funders in there, which means that nobody can call the shots and it works well. One gets good suggestions talking to people in the outside world. Living in an ivory tower, it helps.

So if one gets it right, it can work. What the institute has done is maintain its independence throughout. One does not get into bed with one particular, especially private-sector body - one would be concerned about that - other than on data collection. We felt that influencing one on a formal statistical calculation of what the sum of the numbers are on house prices is not something which-----