Mr. Des Carville:

I do not doubt that for a second. The Deputy is correct that the contractual arrangements borrowers had with the originating institutions persist. Perhaps the question is more around the application of those contractual arrangements. As I mentioned, in such cases the code of conduct on mortgage arrears, CCMA, applies, so there is an element of protection. The advice Ministers have given in the past - and I am sure the current Minister would give the same advice if I asked the question - which we have conveyed through replies to parliamentary questions, is that people should engage with the counter party. I know from direct experience of cases that if people engage in a fulsome, co-operative manner, they have a much better chance of a successful outcome. It is not in the investment funds' interests, as a general proposition, to drag these cases out for many years. That just costs time and money. They generally try to reach an arrangement by agreement and move on. That is the theory of how these things work.