Mr. Colm Kincaid:

To supplement that, we are now at a phase where we have a more joined-up plan than we would have been facing into at the start of this process and that is good to see. That joined-up plan will deal with the vast bulk of what we are talking about. What we will see now is our conversations and engagement with the firms being phased through, firstly ensuring communications are good and the information is there for customers, and we have seen that, and secondly ensuring the operational capacity is in place in the remaining institutions to take on the new accounts, and we have also seen that with twice as many accounts being opened last year. I am satisfied there is a significant level of headroom there in the remaining banks to deal with any spikes in applications for accounts they face.

Coming into the Christmas period and currently, our focus has turned to the bank-led closures where accounts are not being closed by customers but by Ulster Bank and KBC themselves. The institutions have put very specific safeguards in place around that, including in particular a freezing mechanism that means your account is frozen. You then have a period to see if you need more time. We have been very clear with the institutions that where more time is needed, it will be provided. We have said that every reasonable step must be taken before the account is closed to ensure the customer has been enabled to switch. Thus, I think the capacity is there in the system, including for the 125,000-odd accounts we still classify as active. What I think we will come to this year is alongside that, we have the work of Ulster Bank and KBC to identify and engage with more vulnerable customers who might need more assistance. That will be the area we will be focused on in the months ahead. For the vast majority of consumers, the process is, as the Governor has said, on track and proceeding. What we need to see now is more detail and progress made with some of the more complex accounts and some of the cases where customers are facing specific vulnerabilities.

To be clear, that has been within the plan of the institutions. It was always planned to come to those later on when the volume was less.