Mr. Jim O'Keeffe:

I appreciate the Deputy's reference to the article to which he referred. I will not comment on Bank of Ireland's position, but it is clear when one looks at the balance sheets and the scale of the issue that faced AIB in dealing with non-performing loans - it continues to be the case - that they are of a different quantum. That accounts for some, if not all, of the comparison to which the Deputy referred. It also accounts for the fact, as he articulated, that the number was significantly down on the figure for 2016. When one looks at the level, we had more than 5,000 restructures last year on the non-mortgage loan side and circa5,000 restructures on the mortgage loan side. We continue to work right alongside that level of activity. All of the solutions available to customers prevent us from ultimately having to go down the legal route. To come back to the discussion we had on loan sales, we really encourage people to come forward and engage because the legal route is the route of last resort that we want to pursue.