Mr. John Trethowan:

There were a couple of other points. On the percentage of people who have failed and deserve a second chance, we see applications coming through from those who both have failed but who also have made a mistake because they were under so much pressure and probably have not been sleeping and so on. The bank would state the applicant made a particular mistake and it would not deal with him or her anymore. When we ask how long the applicant has banked with the bank and it replies that it is 20 years, we say there is one mistake involved and ask whether we can sort it out. We have managed to resolve a few cases like that.

On those who have failed, there is what in America they call the J-curve where one goes down a bit but one knows one has learnt from it and one can come back up. One hopes many of our businesses people will have learned many lessons over recent years and will be better for it on the way forward.

On the capacity to understand businesses, the banks could do more to understand their customers' businesses. I honestly believe that. The model of the order taken at the front end and someone doing the underwriting in Dublin is remote. I do not know whether the capacity is available now for businesses to get a temporary loan, perhaps for a week, to cover a payment in the way they always used to do.

On security for loans, the loan guarantee scheme will help. If that becomes a stumbling block, that is when the loan guarantee scheme can come back into play.