Mr. Antoine Mac Donncha:

We would have had significant concerns if what we were attempting to so was retrospectively to regulate activity that these firms had done in the past. If we were to attempt in the legislation to regulate and impose the regulatory requirements on actions that had been taken prior to now, that would have been a difficulty from a constitutional perspective. That is not what we are doing. We are saying that from this moment forward, any person who has acquired or who does acquire loan books will be bound by these rules and regulations and they must behave in a manner that is restricted by those regulations. The regulations will apply from this point onwards, but they will apply in respect of people who purchase loan books in the future or who have already purchased loan books and who own loan books.