Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted that lending increased by nearly 40% last year. It is very positive and I hope it continues. I recognise the efforts Ulster Bank has made in the mortgage arrears crisis. People who work on behalf of borrowers have said positive things to me about Ulster Bank and told me the bank is making genuine efforts to keep people in their homes, where possible, and come to reasonable agreements. I also welcome the fact that the interest rate fell by a few basis points in March.

I will pick up on Deputy Boyd Barrett's line of questioning. Although Ulster Bank has nothing to do with Siteserv or the IBRC sales processes, let us say a company with a market capitalisation of approximately €50 million owed Ulster Bank €150 million, but an agreement was reached that the company would be sold and the amount raised returned to Ulster Bank, which would write down approximately 65%. In this case, would the shareholders ever get a multi-million euro pay-off as part of the transaction, thereby reducing the amount Ulster Bank would receive by several million euro?