Mr. Michael Lauhoff:

I will speak first. I thank the joint committee for giving us the opportunity to come before it. I will start on our overall approach to the market, while Mr. Farrell will address agriculture-specific areas.

As shown on the slides we sent in advance, Bank of Ireland has the largest branch footprint across the country. We continue to operate in all towns in which we have operated since before the downturn. The branch network is supported by a team of 115 mobile relationship managers who are focused on small and medium enterprises, SMEs, and the agri-community. They, in turn, are supported by a direct lending unit which supports many of the day to day requirements for working capital of the agri-community. There are two teams spread across Dublin and Kilkenny, with the majority of agri-community requirements being looked after by our team in Kilkenny which is staffed by a number of experienced advisers, many of whom have direct farming experience and run farms in their own time.

Bank of Ireland continues to be the largest lender to the economy. In 2017 we contributed 51% of overall new lending to the agriculture sector. Total agri-approvals in 2017 amounted to a sum of €563 million.

I will pass over to Mr. Farrell who will cover specific areas in agriculture.