For now, my point is that in addition to the five domestic challenges for the Irish banking system to more speedily achieve recovery, there is a sixth European challenge where there are positive signs but much work still to be done. This dependence on European developments, however, is no excuse for the banks to delay in tackling the five challenges I have discussed.
Of course, in some countries there is nevertheless some deleveraging pressure; but this is, or was, due to the refinancing needs of their banks and is not caused by the recapitalization plan itself. On the contrary, if a loss in confidence is a major reason for the refinancing problems, restoring confidence through publicly assisted recapitalization might be a key tool to mitigate excess deleveraging.