Mr. Bernard Sheridan:

On the cash handling charge, if we look across the market to the other providers, what is being proposed is broadly in line with what everybody else is charging. In terms of whether it is a reasonable charge in the context of the change in 1996, what we concluded is that it still looks reasonable to us because every other institution is already charging along those lines. I appreciate that it will have a big impact on some firms - we have received submissions on this - but we have to take into account the criteria set out under the Act rather than purely looking at it from one side or the other.

In terms of what is driving this, it was mentioned earlier that the banks' ability to recover and become profitable again is limited in terms of where they can go to do that. The net interest margin is one matter that falls outside section 149. Bank charges and fees is another area. The rationale for seeking these increases is being put forward. That is what they are trying to do - to recover the costs so they can become profitable. The good thing about section 149 is that it is only one element of a framework that we have to take into account. We have to take into account the impact on customers as well.

To a large extent the banks are relying upon existing customers to try to recover more costs. It is having an impact upon those customers. We have to acknowledge that. What we are trying to do with this is to strike the right balance, as I said in my opening statement.