Mr. Stephen Bell:

The problem of mortgage arrears is fundamentally different in the Republic of Ireland from Northern Ireland. Non-performing loans, which is the measure of cases 90 days or more in arrears, never peaked beyond 4.5% in Northern Ireland whereas here it peaked in the high 20%. The nature of the problem is very different and therefore the nature of the solutions we offer are different in Northern Ireland from the Republic. The legal system that applies in Northern Ireland is based on the system in the United Kingdom and as such there was no impact on Northern Ireland from the Ms Justice Dunne ruling which in effect meant for two years, between the middle of 2011 and the middle of 2013, there was no meaningful threat of repossession. I say that upfront because it is probably not helpful to try to compare the mortgage arrears activities between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In fact, the regulatory view of what are appropriate solutions between the PRA and FCA and the Central Bank are quite different as well.