Mr. Edmund Honohan:

There is a net gain to them in the sense that they now have an asset that they can offset in their tax calculations. That is never taken into account with regard to the borrower. The borrower says, "Gosh, my loan has been sold now and I see the bank has gone and claimed a tax benefit as a result. Surely I should get that, and my net liability to the new owner should be reduced by the fact that the State has returned some of that loss to the bank?"