Mr. Ed Sibley:

I thank the Senator for his questions. There is a lot of similarity between the opening statements of the Central Bank and the Department but they are not exactly the same. I did not mention some of the issues the Senator spoke about, such as constitutional rights, and I did not say that interest rates would necessarily increase. I understand the thrust of the question. Ultimately, the way I have been looking at the Bill is that it is as much a question about the overall protections in place for borrowers in distress. Comparatively, there are strong protections in place in Ireland for mortgage borrowers. My view, which based on a fair volume of work, is the protections in Ireland are stronger than anywhere else in Europe and probably beyond.