Mr. Gabriel Makhlouf:

If the Deputy is talking about the interest charging, I spoke about that earlier and have nothing to add to what I said. Where borrowers, however, have got significant arrears that are not going to be resolved by payment breaks or where their circumstances are such that the nature of the payment break is a temporary thing and is not going to help them, then there is nothing to stop the lender from working with borrowers to look to restructure the debt, fundamentally, and to enter into alternative arrangements. In many ways, the most important thing for borrowers, and ultimately for lenders, is that if people think that situation is likely to arise, that they start talking to their lender early and as soon as possible.

More generally, the issue of some of the mortgage arrears that have been around since the previous crisis is a serious one and is one the Central Bank is concerned about. We are about to bring together interested parties to a round table in the next week or so to talk about these issues and look to how we can address them because the likelihood at the end of this crisis, if we do not manage it well, is that we will create another crisis. We need to be on the front foot to try to deal with those sorts of challenges. It is a real issue, the Central Bank is concerned about it and we are looking to work with others to see what the best way is to resolve it.