Mr. Jim O'Keeffe:

We acknowledge completely that the commentary in the past period of time has caused a lot of upset for customers and the wider public. Deputy Doherty referred to many people contacting him. Many people with whom we have worked with in good faith over the years have contacted us, so it has caused a lot of heartbreak hence our appearance today, for which we are grateful.

The Deputy said the public wants to know whether we have a special deals arrangement. We do not. We deal with every case consistently and fairly. We have a governing set of policies that are reviewed internally right up to the board. We have a regulator who quite correctly monitors our activity and various lines of defences. I can tell the Deputy categorically that there are no special deals for special individuals coming to AIB. I apologise to our customers who have been put through that torture over the past week or ten days where they have been made feel that they have been subject to something that does not happen for a wider group. I can assure the Deputy that this is not the case.