Mr. Des Carville:

I suppose from an investor point of view, were I an international investor thinking of buying shares in the Irish banking market, I would first need to understand why these two banks had decided to exit. Very quickly I would realise there are benefits for the remaining banks in terms of their buying some of the assets the departing banks are selling. KBC's assets are being sold primarily to Bank of Ireland and the Ulster Bank assets are going to both PTSB and, it seems, AIB. Certainly its corporate book is. Its tracker book looks like it is heading in that direction as well. It improves the viability of the remaining banks because they are larger so their costs are spread over a larger base.