Mr. Jeremy Masding:

I think about that the other way around. The first thing I ask my team to do is to demonstrate to me and assure me that we price our mortgages in a way that covers the five dimensions that I referred to in my speech, namely, the cost of funds, operating expenses, cost of risk, cost of capital and portfolio risk. If we cover those, then that is the right way to put mortgages into the Irish market. That no foreign banks have come into the Irish mortgage space at scale indicates that the pricing is probably right, considering that most other European banks would price mortgages in the same way.

Irish competition has increased in recent times. There are essentially five vibrant institutions in Ireland, namely, Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Banks, KBC, Ulster Bank and Permanent TSB. Additionally, in certain niche areas, other competitors are coming in. Competition is alive and we price mortgage assets correctly. As the inputs change, prices will change.