Mr. Gerry Mallon:

The first thing to note is that until the Central Bank is completely satisfied that we have successfully concluded every one of the phases of the tracker mortgage examination, everything we say about the examination, including the numbers, could be subject to change. It will certainly be subject to review and it could be subject to change. We make our remarks and provide information on the understanding that nothing is final until the Cental Bank says it is. We will provide the committee with numbers on a best-endeavours basis.

When we met last December, the one thing that was clear to us was that there was a primary cohort of approximately 2,000 customers where we believed there were issues relating to the tracker mortgage examination. We had an estimate at that stage of the number that was going to be included in that. We were also clear that this was a complex programme requiring the examination of tens of thousands of accounts. There were no defined large individual cohorts, but rather there were multiple small cohorts which needed to be worked through over a period of time. As we concluded phase 2, we worked through each of those cohorts and made a conclusion or decision as to whether people were impacted and whether there was a need for remediation. We addressed the 2,000 as quickly as we could in December 2016 and in January and February 2017. Identifying the remainder has been a gradual process between that point and the conclusion of phase 2 in March. We were in a position to identify the full number in time for the conclusion of the process in March.