Mr. Jeremy Masding:

That is a hypothetical question, so I will answer it at the time. I am guided by my job, as the Deputy will understand. As the CEO of the bank, my job is to implement the right option for all Irish taxpayers - the shareholders - in order to satisfy our regulatory requirements. I will explain how I think about this. When I came to Ireland, the bank had been bailed out by the State to the tune of €4 billion. What drives us and me every morning is to try to pay that back because that money belongs to the Irish citizens, not to the bank. As of last night, our share price was €1.86 and our market capitalisation was under €850 million. Broadly speaking, my maths say that we still owe the State just shy of €1.5 billion. That belongs to all Irish taxpayers. That gap is being registered by the market as a function of us not being able to manage down the NPL ratio. While the Deputy and I might disagree, I am merely giving him my perspective. I am paid, as a guest in Ireland and the CEO of Permanent TSB, to try to repay the €4 billion. At the moment, there is a gap and the share price is diminished. The only way that we can get that money back is to manage down the NPL ratio. That is the view of the market.