Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Access to Finance for SMEs: Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and AIB
4:00 pm
Mr. Brendan O'Connor:
Again, this is a rough estimate but of the €15 billion, possibly €9 billion is what I would classify as non-core debt. It is not always property but it might be property related. When it comes to SMEs, a sponsor may have borrowed in their own name to start a business, as well as buying buy-to-lets or commercial real estate. When it comes to those customers, that is generally not where buy-to-let receivers are used because we are trying to come a solution around the totality of the debt. Generally if there is a buy-to-let receiver, the case is broken down and there will more than likely be a legal resolution to it in time. It can also be consensual in some cases where we agree a legal resolution which is in the best interest of the bank and borrower.