Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Generally speaking, the mortgage-to-rent process does not seem to have happened. I am disappointed that has not materialised to a greater extent because it is potentially the solution to many of the most difficult cases that one would imagine, that is, people who have lost their jobs and those on low income. Mr. Brown might answer that but I will ask him one final question given that my time is running out.

A big issue that has dominated the agenda in recent weeks is the events around Siteserv, and it has opened a window to the bigger issue of big write-downs for corporate and commercial interests. While Mr. Brown is not involved in the Siteserv issue, has he any opinion on the scale of the write-downs being handed out, and what is Ulster Bank's record in regard to big write-downs? The Minister is now saying, after the event, that he wants to know about any write-down over €10 million and so on. Can Mr. Brown tell us anything about the volume of big commercial loans his bank has written down and the writing down of loans in those type of circumstances to that extent, which is arguably of significant benefit to the companies that get them?