Mr. Jeremy Masding:

Three things arise. First, I will repeat that in this particular securitisation design the combination of the interconnected factors meant that it was the design required in order for us to get de-recognition. Those are the facts. Second, in terms of split mortgages I wish to repeat what I said last year to the Deputy. Rightly, Deputy Doherty challenged me last time by saying that if AIB can achieve a certain goal then why could Permanent TSB not do the same. Deputy Doherty said that it was a function of us not thinking enough about where we were at. Forgive me for reminding the committee - I am conscious that committee time is precious - we had to offer more splits than any other bank in Ireland because of the nature of the weakness of the balance sheet. For example, in the 2017 split mortgages accounts made up 6% of loans in AIB. They made up 24% of loans for us. For that 24% we warehoused up to 80% of the debt in some cases. We set out to try to keep as many people as possible in their homes. This meant many of the warehouses were rather deep. Then, the depth of the warehouses related to the constructs of the split, because the non-performing loan guidance from the Single Supervisory Mechanism states that 20% is a level above which the warehoused portion and the main mortgage are deemed to be connected. As soon as we pass the connection test, they stay as non-performing loans.