Mr. Frank O'Connor:

Investors are watching and what they have is evidence of Ireland's previous track record and its progress in getting back to budget balance. This stands us in very good stead. Investors understand the need to borrow and have deficits in the face of a crisis, and they realise it will take a period of time to get back to budget balance. However, our credibility stands up very well.

Something else that makes investors comfortable, when we think about it, is that we increased our funding range but we did not have to do so by as much as others. Let us not forget that this year we came into January with €17 billion in cash, so effectively the debt chimneys I spoke about were fully funded. The adjustment we had to make to fund the deficit and deal with the crisis was smaller than others had to make. On top of this, investors look at our debt maturity profile and we are probably one of the few sovereigns that has no bond redemptions next year. This gives great flexibility and confidence to investors that Ireland can deal with the crisis that is unfolding.