Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Boucher and his team. He has given a very robust defence of the bank and the statistics make for interesting reading. I have to say I concur with the latter point made by Deputy Donnelly.

Mr. Boucher is ahead of the posse. He has made reference to the other banks, in somewhat pejorative terms, and how they might manage their business. Undoubtedly, we have learned the following from our engagement with people like MABS, personal insolvency practitioners, New Beginnings or whatever. The overwhelming body of evidence, and this is from people whom I would deem to be reasonable and impartial observers, is that Bank of Ireland is back to business as usual. Given what we have been through, and given the fact that the taxpayer bailed the bank out, although I appreciate that the money has been paid back, there was a naive expectation that it would never be back to business as usual - that which preceded the crash that we have been through - and that there would be some moderation on the worst excesses of the profit motive in the bank. I am a capitalist and support the bondholder. In that milieu it must be possible to have a more humane approach to clients, particularly mortgage holders, who are in difficulty.

I suspect the following will inevitably be the case and is where the bank should be concerned. People will not forget how they were treated. There is a lot of people who feel they are not being treated very fairly. In response, the CEO will resort to statistics and dismiss anecdotes. From the wide range of people who have expressed such a view, and I would suggest if one canvassed the views of all of the Oireachtas Members, one would get significantly the same point of view that has been made by Deputy Donnelly and I, the view is that Bank of Ireland would be perceived as the most difficult bank to engage with now. I understand the points that have been made by the CEO and he may wish to repeat them. It might be best if he took on board what has been said. The bank is ahead of the posse and has repaid its dues to the State but its obligations to change practice does not end there. I know the bank has a responsibility to its shareholders to maximise returns for them. Somewhere in between the bank's customers must receive due consideration. That is the end of my opening remark.

I will now ask a few questions. Credit rating agencies have given the bank a particular status or standing and it operates in the Republic and in the UK. Can the delegation give us information on its credit rating by the rating agencies? They take into account all of the risk factors that impact on the bank's cost of funds, etc. Do they say the Republic of Ireland is a more difficult place to do business, relative to Northern Ireland? Do they say it is the same risk rating? Do they say it is a different rating for the UK? What is Bank of Ireland's credit rating where it operates?