Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I understand that and unfortunately regulation itself can be pro-cyclical. I am a big fan of regulation. Ireland was shockingly deregulated before the last crash, which significantly contributed to that crash. Sometimes there is a regulation lag and it can come too late and therefore have a pro-cyclical effect, which further depresses the market. I understand KBC’s need to speak positively about the Irish market but as it is leaving, it does not have an economic logic for staying. It is useful to us to try to understand exactly what the components of that lack of economic logic are in order that we can look to change those and so have a more competitive market. What I mean by that is that we need to have more players within the market. More players within the market would make for a more sustainable market in Ireland.

KBC made €1.3 billion in the first half of the year in total and it made a profit in total in the first half of 2021 in this State. A chunk of KBC’s losses last year were from setting aside money for potential loan charges to the bank because of Covid. Did those loan charges materialise in the end or how did that work?