It is instructive to use some insurance analogies to help describe how the Central Bank of Ireland is performing the underlying forecasting and policy analysis around the important and topical issue challenge of mortgage arrears. As with much insurance business, the standard Irish residential mortgage is a long-lived contract requiring calculations involving complex interest and the time dimension of evolving uncertainty.
In particular, I should like to express my gratitude to the banking community and the retailer sector and to all European citizens for the enthusiasm they have shown for the euro since the euro coin starter kits went on sale in December, but specially since 1 January.