Mr. Cormac Butler:

Yes. I will put it in plain English. In 2008, the banks were insolvent. The Central Bank had loaned money up to that point so it had suffered a loss at that point. What happened was that everybody said it was a liquidity crisis, not a solvency crisis, and they got the Government to put money into the banks. That money went to the ECB. What should have happened is the ECB should have said: "These banks are insolvent and need an equity injection, so once we put the money in we cannot take it out again". If that correct procedure had been carried out, the Government would not have been exposed to this huge liability. As a result, the repayments of the promissory note as they are taking place today are not cancelling the liability but effectively giving a present to the ECB.