Ms Ann Nolan:

I agree. The issue for us was trying to get the frameworks in place for all the banks in a way that gave commercial freedom and involved no political interference in ordinary day-to-day business but enough oversight for the Department to ensure we were happy with how they were doing. There was tension in the negotiations between the Department, the banks and the Directorate-General for Competition. I am not sure the troika members had such a major issue in that regard. It took longer than we would have liked to get them in place.