Mr. Ajai Chopra:

No. I think that is ... to say that the external partners were a third partner in the negotiation between coalition partners would be absolutely false. We would never do that, but I think it is fair to say - and you know this is just not in the case of Ireland, this is after an election when a new government is being formed - when a programme is already in place, it is incumbent on the IMF and its partners, as creditors, to understand what the platform and policy position of an incoming government might be because then we need to start thinking about, "Do we need to modify this programme"?

"Where might we need to modify it?" And you know it's best to have the information, to understand what the new government might be thinking. So ... so having discussions of that nature, not just in the case of Ireland but in other countries as well, would be a part of the normal modus operandibut, again, without interfering in the political process. The issue here is understanding what position ... what the platform of an incoming government might be.