Mr. John Moran:

I am coming to it. We have changed the CEOs of two banks in the past year and we have seen considerably more progress in respect of engaging with this problem than was the case previously. We needed to see improvement on the collection side, and this has started in how new people entering the system are dealt with. There is a much more robust process of engagement with prospective customers.

We have had much discussion and commentary on blockages in the system, for example the code of conduct the banks follow in respect of the number of calls they can make. We have certainly seen some scenarios in which customers and borrowers do not engage with their banks and therefore we have no ability to get information from them in respect of their personal situation and whether their income has increased or decreased and whether they have other assets they have not revealed to the rest of the household or to the bank. Until we have all this information about this group of customers it is impossible to know the full picture.

We have had an unfortunate situation whereby although this problem has been getting worse the banks have not invested quickly enough in either personnel or technology to deal with this situation. Considerable progress has been made in this regard in recent months but there is still work to do. Until such time as we have this we will not be able to answer the questions the Deputy is putting. I would love to have all the answers on what percentage of arrears belong in split mortgages and what percentage belong in mortgage to rent. The banks have grossly underinvested in technology and we saw another example of this last night. We are living with the consequences of this and trying to repair the situation. Some banks are dealing with it faster than others. The regulator has primary responsibility for chasing them down and it is on the case. We will continue to work with the regulator in this respect. The number of split mortgages I discussed its low relative to what we should have in the system. I mentioned some of the blockages as to why we cannot move faster.