Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

As I said to the Deputy, the value we paid the banks was equal to the value of the underlying property. Each of the individual properties or securities for loans was valued by a property valuer for the banks. We got our own property valuers to say whether we agreed with that value. If we agreed with it, we accepted it. If we did not, we rejected it and got a new evaluation. That was done by reference to 30 November 2009. However, the market values have declined. If one studies any of the indices - the IPD is an internationally well-recognised index - one will see a reflection of the fact that there was a fall in asset values of 25%, on average, between the end of 2009 and the end of 2012. That is the market we have to deal with. That is the reality the board has to face at the end of each financial year.

At the end of each financial year, when it is preparing its accounts and submitting them to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit, the board must face the question of whether the impairment exercise is robust and reflects the reality of what we will recover on these assets between now and 2020.