of reserves in our balance sheet. the ongoing disposal of the special portfolio of floating rate notes remains an additional priority in our financial operations. considerable progress has been made in the tracker mortgage examination. our end - march report shows that the redress and compensation figure is now €459 million – with 37, 100 cases identified. the supervisory phase will conclude this year. enforcement activity also remains ongoing, with investigations initiated against six banks. we are also undertaking a wide - ranging assessment of the underlying organisational culture of the five main banks. in 2017, we moved to ensure we were appropriately set up to meet the demands of our expanded regulatory mandate by establishing prudential regulation and financial conduct pillars. across the four pillars ( central banking, prudential regulation, financial conduct, operations ), we work as an integrated organisation in fulfilling our mandate. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches in terms of our regulatory priorities for 2018, in addition to the tracker mortgage examination, managing the impact of brexit is a major task. we expect to see an increased number of firms that want to establish a presence in ireland. we also required regulated firms already here to have robust plans to deal with brexit in whatever shape it materialises, especially those companies with exposure to the united kingdom. in this regard, the level of preparation by some firms is a concern. we also continue to highlight the potential brexit - related risks to the economy, the financial sector and individual firms. we closely monitor developments in the mortgage market. our macroprudential toolkit – and in particular the mortgage measures – are central to increasing the resilience of banks and borrowers and avoid the risks of credit - house price spirals emerging. a high priority remains tackling the outstanding stock of non - performing loans in the banking system. we are also currently working to develop our strategic plan for 2019 – 2021. to help inform the plan we are inviting submissions from the public to help shape our future priorities. the submission phase runs until early june and we encourage comments and suggestions from all interested parties. finally, on behalf of the senior management team, let me express our gratitude to the members of the central bank commission for their support throughout the year. i would also like to thank all staff members for their continued hard work in delivering the mandate of the central bank. i am happy to take your questions. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

regulation : this still places the heaviest demands on the central bank in terms of staff resources assigned to authorising, regulating and supervising the very large number of firms and funds involved in the business of exporting financial services. adaptation of the national system to comply with the requirements of the euro absorbed much of the bank ’ s work in the 1990s and into the new millennium, while a new emphasis on consumer protection responded to acknowledged weaknesses in that area. our currency centre rose to the challenge of printing a share of the new euro notes, with ever improving security features. but the design of the euro, topic of tonight ’ s t. k. whitaker lecture to be given by professor harold james of princeton university, did not, as many had assumed, protect members from macro - financial distress. the past few years have been probably the busiest ever for the bank as it has raced to stem or meet outflows and repair the damage to the banking system that has so undermined national prosperity. with industry promotion no longer part of the bank ’ s statutory mandate, the regulatory agenda has shifted into an unapologetically intrusive mode. regulations are being enforced with sizable penalties imposed for violations. a graduated but intensive and unremitting programme of specific required deliverables is being imposed on the banks to try to ensure that they will deal effectively with the admittedly challenging task of getting ahead of the still - growing mortgage arrears problem, both by getting those who can back on schedule, and modifying loans in the case of those who cannot do so. the bank is currently also playing its part in engaging with external partners in seeking to limit and smooth the impact on irish balance sheets of the indebtedness accumulated as a result of the overly expansive decision to socialise banking losses, to help accelerate recovery of employment on a sustainable basis. bis central bankers ’ speeches