Dr. Amie Lajoie:

In the opening statement, we had that challenge of trying to phrase this. We came up with this term of public or cultural accountability which mainstream banks seem to have in the Irish context. When a mainstream lender gets into difficulty, where we see what happened recently with AIB in the public domain, there seems to be a great deal of conversation in the Government, in other sectors of society and in the media, where they seem to have that piece of the term which we use, which is public accountability. We did not know how else to phrase this with regard to Irish society whereas the issue with funds is of their being based elsewhere and of their profits going elsewhere.

They do not seem to have that level within the State itself or within Irish society, but maybe more is coming to the fore as we discuss it in this way, and they are becoming so prominent. We referenced that 74% of all mortgages in arrears for more than one year are now being owned, operated by and serviced by these firms. For us at the Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS, we have been active in that space for more than 30 years. We will be engaging with these entities more and more. It is very important for us to keep the door open to them so they continue to engage with us, and that we do not close that off in any way.

On the previous question, a number of people are refinancing with these entities because they are offering lower fixed rates than banks. They are providing that competitive edge, fortunately or unfortunately depending on one's outlook. It is up to one third on new lending for that segment. One third of all refinancing in buy-to-let segments of the market, as we refer to in the statement, are now going to these firms. They are playing an increasingly prominent role in that way as well. We see people opting to refinance with these entities because their rates are lower.