Mr. Brian Hayes:

I have already answered that question. I have set out what the obstacles are, but they are obstacles member state governments put in their way. If we had a common solvency directive, a common directive on the valuation of properties and a common competition and consumer directive, as Deputy Joan Burton said, to allow the institutions of the European Union to investigate where a bank does not offer customers a product that is requested, a lot more could be done, but too often, as Mr. Carthy said, it is member states that are preventing this from happening. That is where there is protectionism. There is no reason the bank should not come to Ireland and no reason the small lander bank in Germany which is doing such good work in the provision of social infrastructure should not come. It is not the European Union that is preventing it from happening.