Mr. Eamonn Crowley:

Just to add to that, I would note the numbers we have. I have taken a personal interest in this. Indeed, the most recent "Prime Time" piece was extremely powerful on the difficulties certain people are facing in that respect. The numbers that have declared are small.

Our numbers, against, for instance, our exposure to customers on the Inishowen Peninsula, the number of customers who have told us they have an issue, is very small. I appreciate that each one of those customers has a difficulty in different circumstances based on age, profile, income, etc., but we need to encourage customers to come forward and disclose that they have a mica issue. We have provided forbearance to customers in this space but, while we have done so, some have not taken it up, maybe on the basis of awaiting some better deal to come. I understand why that is the case, but they also continue to support their mortgages, which obviously puts them in more difficulty in that respect.

There are, therefore, a range of different points to be dealt with. The Deputy has raised the fact that many people do not even have a mortgage at all. They have a self-build that they funded themselves and do not have a mortgage, and, therefore, do not have a connection with a bank at all. There is a wide variety of potential issues here, but the first thing is that all customers of all banks should be encouraged, including in our case, where the numbers are small, to come forward and engage with us because we want to try to help. We are restricted by various rules and regulations, but there is clearly a desire on our behalf to help and, if something comes out of that, to help more older customers. Let us try to see if we can put something together, but at the moment that has not come into play. The credit unions also have a part to play in that sense. We would like customers to come and tell us they have an issue. At the moment, the numbers are quite small.