Mr. Vasileios Madouros:

That is a very good question. The ultimate objective of the savings and investment union in Europe is to strengthen the role of capital markets, diversify the portfolios of savers or households such that they move away from bank deposits alone towards a broader range of financial assets, and ensure that companies that want to expand can borrow not only from banks but also from a broader range of capital market actors. The capital markets union is also about integrating the market we have within the EU because it is quite fragmented at the moment. There is a European agenda on that but there is also a domestic element. Last year, the Department of Finance completed a review of the funds sector and that had a number of recommendations, including some that would be consistent with strengthening, say, retail market participation in Ireland and, therefore, the role of capital markets.

I have one more point on this subject: we have growth in the role of non-bank lending into the domestic economy, which would be consistent with a more diversified source of financing.