Dr. Mark Cassidy:

If the European Union is to be a complete economic, monetary and financial union, the one area that must be further developed relates to capital markets and the banking union. That would allow the same sort of cross-border choices with the provision of financial services that exist in more regular services. There is still a way to go. Banking, for whatever reason, is still a national activity. We are certainly not the only country in Europe with long-term issues relating to the banking system across Europe. For many countries there is "over-banking" and there is a need for consolidation of the banking system. For many countries, including Ireland, the profitability environment has been very challenging.