Mr. Gerry Mallon:

I will explain a little about the dividend and the RBS stress test. Ulster Bank has made a lot of progress in recent years in resolving its problem debt and it has shrunk the total size of the lending book. We need to hold capital in proportion to the size of the bank and its lending book and, as a consequence, we have surplus capital. Holding this costs money and, ultimately, the cost could be borne by our customers. We are also profitable and the profits add to our capital. We are adding to it at the moment, rather than depleting it, so it makes sense to us and the regulator to return some of it to our parent and allow it to redeploy it in some other way.

As the capital we hold on our books still counts as RBS's capital overall, it does not matter if it is in Ireland or wherever else. Considering the stress test in the context of the capital repatriation or the payment of the dividend is not necessarily relevant. It will be and it remains a long-term objective that we have a functioning, viable bank, that we produce profits and in the same way that any company that produces profits pays a dividend to its shareholder, we will be in a position where we can continue to do that. We still hold very high capital levels - probably the highest of any Irish bank at the moment. The intention is to continue to work with our customers, to attract more customers, to support them to grow and to earn profit for the longer term.

Would the Senator like me to explain about RBS's stress test and its implications?