Ms Francesca McDonagh:

There was robust challenge and discussion with the Central Bank. There was correspondence between the bank and the Central Bank which predated my arrival, there was challenge and ongoing work and discussion on the 6,000 cases over which there was question or a difference of perspectives. During my first couple of days after arriving at the bank, I made a point of calling some of our customers and introducing myself. I met as many colleagues as possible and also called to introduce myself, though I had met many of them during my regulatory approval process with the regulators, and this was mentioned to me very early on as something on which I would have to focus. In agreement with the board, that is what I did. There was ongoing discussion and debate. The challenge from the Central Bank, feedback from the Minister of Finance, the context of the external environment at the time, and then my own objective review, arrived at working with the team, looking at the different facets and prisms of the discussion is what resulted in the recommendation to include the 6,000, which the board fully supported.