Mr. Matt Carthy:

We are closer in that regard. I believe you have hit the nail on the head with regard to consumer protection. This is about standards in banking and, frankly, the culture of the Irish banking sector.

One can understand the reason they have come to that view. They destroyed the country's economy. They landed all of us with €64 billion worth of bank debt. Of course they believe they can get away with anything. They got away with that and now, less than ten years later, we are having a discussion about bonuses for the same people who were in place at that time. The Chairman is right. This comes down to the overall standards. There needs to be an element of accountability, and there is none.

In terms of the tracker mortgage issue, despite all the lukewarm apologies this committee and others have heard, nobody has been held accountable for it yet. We can see why Ulster Bank would not consider the mess in which people found themselves. In terms of management level, it does not understand what it means for somebody not to have a relatively small amount of money in their bank for a period of time. It would not have any understanding of the pressures or the difficulties that would pose for someone.