Ms Francesca McDonagh:

We have different contract types. We have won industry awards for our graduate programme being one of the best in Ireland. Entry position graduate trainees are permanent employees. On occasion, we recruit people for a shorter period of time to fill a specific project or programme or to fill a temporary vacancy so there is flexibility. In terms of managing our costs and efficiency we have looked at whether the use of short-term contractors, who often have quite high daily rates, is the best use of our resources or whether the role is better done internally. Sometimes we will in-house our contractors to some extent. Sometimes we will develop the skills of our own people to do the jobs we are paying a daily rate contractor to do. We want to give our people sustainable and attractive careers at the bank regardless of whether they come in as new entrants or have been loyal members of staff for 30 or 40 years.