Mr. Sean Quigley:

Mercer Investment Consulting. Arising from that review, a range of investment strategies were put in place. There was a new governance structure put in place which included an investment committee headed by the President of the High Court. We also went to tender for fund managers and Bank of Ireland Asset Management and State Street were awarded the contract. We again went to tender, I think, in 2011, at which time State Street was again successful, by which time it had taken over Bank of Ireland Asset Management. Our objective is to have investment strategies that match as closely as possible the requirements of individual beneficiaries, taking account of the duration of the investment and also capital preservation, particularly in the case of minors.

During the financial crisis, about which the Vice Chairman asked, the funds were hit like every other investment. At the year end of 2008, our growth fund, the one exposed most to equities, stood at minus 17%. However, as we keep telling people, one is in such a fund for the long term, not for one or two years but for at least five or ten years plus.