Ms Francesca McDonagh:

We are focused on a fixed-rate mortgage strategy and have been so for many years. Some 90% of our new mortgage business is on fixed-rate loans and we have led the market in that regard. Fixed rate for first-time buyers and movers has grown to nearly two thirds of the market, up from slightly more than half of the market one year ago. That is a market trend indicating customers voting with their feet and having a strong preference for the security and clarity provided by a fixed-rate mortgage such that they know how much will come out of their salary each month to pay their mortgage. We keep our fixed rate under review. We offer a fixed-rate mortgage at 2.9% for one or two year mortgages, which is very competitive. We have reduced our fixed-rate mortgage rate over time. Historically, we have reduced it by one third in the past three years. We offer a competitive proposition. We write to our customers annually, as required. In addition, we have written to our customers on higher variable rates and reminded them of the opportunity to switch to a fixed rate. That is good business because keeping a customer on a variable rate when he or she can get a better deal involves a risk of attrition and losing that relationship or mortgage which, obviously, would be a negative for the bank. Some 8,000 existing customers moved from a variable to a lower fixed rate in 2018, while approximately 7,500 customers did so in 2017. I am keen to continue increasing that number as we engage with our customers to encourage them to avail of what we believe to be our best offer in fixed-rate mortgages. Standard variable rate is not necessarily the area in which we compete; fixed rate has been our strategy for several years.