The Tánaiste said to me earlier that representatives of the banks told him at the meeting on 11 May, despite what the official minutes claim, that they could waive interest on mortgages during the payment break. Can he explain why his former colleague, Brian Hayes, who is now the chief lobbyist for the banks, has defended the banks' comments in the minutes where they state that they had to charge interest because the regulator asked them to do so? Mr. Hayes's defence was that the rules only changed on Tuesday. Was Brian Hayes in a different meeting with the minute taker and why are there are so many different versions of the Government's meeting with the banks? Will the Tánaiste clarify his earlier comments in this regard, because they simply do not stack up?

As I said to the Deputy earlier, I have not seen the minutes and I am not a spokesperson for Brian Hayes. I related to the Deputy my recollection of the meeting and I related to him what I think is the most important thing here, namely, that the banks should not think that they can in any way make an extra profit or get some type of bonus or premium out of the fact that some people are getting a payment break or loan break on their mortgage. That is the key point in all of this. The banks are claiming that by extending loans by six months or a year, there is an additional cost to them and that cost has to be covered by those who benefit from that payment break, rather than its being passed on to other people or taken out of profits that do not exist any more. However, if it is the case that they misled us and that somehow the banks or other financial institutions are going to make a bonus out of this or an additional profit over and above what they would have made anyway, then that, in my view, is a very serious matter.