Mr. Gerry Fitzpatrick:

Yes and that was, I guess, based on a whole range of factors. Certainly within our own team, auditing skills and knowledge ... and in terms of experience in the audit ... I mean, there was a question earlier in relation to is it appropriate to have 15 years involvement in audit ... yes, you need that actually to have people who have that skill and a knowledge of that industry. So there was a whole range of people in that team who have had years experience within Ulster Bank and understand banking.

Secondly, in terms of market trends, it is hugely important, obviously as a firm, that we're aware of things that are happening both from an accounting standards perspective or an expertise perspective. So the link to our Royal Bank of Scotland audit team is critical. That team ... I was very much a part of that team, they attended all the committees here with me, so I was certainly linked into international thinking in relation to financial markets and that is obviously another way ... very important way of gathering information. We would have learning programmes and then we have other specialists around our firm who we use from time to time to help support areas where I might personally have knowledge. And that would range everything from ... there is very complex IT systems in banks and we would have computer audit experts, we have taxation matters, we bring in experts from that perspective and we would have corporate finance people ... experts who are dealing from time to time with transactions in property or otherwise who can add to that expertise from time to time.

And, lastly, I suppose, when I talk about contradictory evidence, we're certainly on the ... our challenge and our scepticism has to be to look to see what information we can see that might prove the directors' assumptions incorrect and, therefore, briefings from valuers was a regular feature to our firm to make sure we understood trends in valuations, both in terms of IPD indexes, valuers themselves, in terms of how they are going about valuations. And certainly around the 2008 period the challenges in actually getting valuations. So I think those factors in terms of our knowledge over a period of time of the organisational running of a ... of the bank, the link to RBS and its expertise that we could get from that source and bringing specialists from other disciplines within our organisation to bear in terms of my judgments ... I think that was an appropriate way to have ... to have that knowledge. Auditors aren't experts on every industry they audit in, so you can audit a nuclear power plant and you can audit a bank. So you are not saying you're necessarily an expert in nuclear power or in lending. What you have to understand is the risks associated with those things, so I have never been a lender and I am not ... I've not lent money. But I understand the risks associated with how you measure lending and measure lending impairment and how those things get disclosed under accounting rules, which is the critical factor that I am trying to achieve in terms of giving my audit opinion, which I think, as I said earlier, was reasonably given.