Dr. Colin Hunt:

I will hand over to my colleague Mr. Kinsella who has been charged with looking after the tracker rate mortgage issue for us in recent years.

I will briefly outline my view. The tracker rate mortgage issue is a stain on the reputation of AIB and other Irish banks. It arose from a lack of foresight, weak controls and poor communication. As CEO, I want us to draw a line under the affair once we have concluded the examination and resultant enforcement to the satisfaction of the Central Bank of Ireland. We have been engaging on this issue for more than three years. A significant number of people have been working on it, which is right and appropriate. They have focused on examining the issues involved and providing redress and compensation, where appropriate.

We have also focused on enhancing controls in the bank to minimise the risk that such an issue will happen again. However, we can improve controls and communication as much as we want. The best protection against a recurrence of this issue is ultimately the culture of the institution. We have made significant strides in recent years in putting the customer at the centre of our concerns and becoming a genuinely customer focused organisation. However, we have more work to do to enhance our openness and transparency. That applies to our internal communications and also how we deal with external stakeholders. I take seriously my responsibilities as CEO to lead and drive that cultural change.