Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Hunt and his colleagues. To pick up on a number of points, I take from the presentation that the bank wants to reduce the proportion of non-performing loans on its loan book to 5% by year end. Dr. Hunt put forward the reasons for that. Reference was made to the fact that the bank has to provide three times the level of capital that would normally be provided by banks in Europe. How much does AIB owe Irish taxpayers in terms of the money they put into the banks? If the bank reduces the level of non-performing loans to 5% or the point at which the European authorities will allow it to relax the level of capital it must provide, what impact will that have on interest rates, lending and the repayment of the money taxpayers put into AIB? I want to see light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the pain and hardship inflicted on people who have non-performing loans, with whom we deal every day. The bank guarantee was given in 2008, almost 11 years ago. Will Dr. Hunt indicate where the light at the end of the tunnel is in that regard? As I have very little time, I ask him to be brief.