Dr. Colin Hunt:

I am very conscious of the fact that I am in my first few weeks as CEO of the institution. I hope to serve for a very long time, something that will be determined, largely, by the board in its appraisal of my performance.

My ambition for the institution is to see its reputation being fully restored in the eyes of its customers and the public. Underpinning that restoration of reputation are three factors. They are issues I have called out to all of the people who work within AIB, its shareholders and customers, the first of which is cultural change. We have made significant progress in recent years in emphasising the primacy of the needs of our customers. It is enshrined in our values and pillars. If one was to ask anyone who works in AIB to explain our pillars and values, the first thing they would say is that we put our customer first. That has been recognised externally: it is not just me who is saying it. Alongside it, we have further work to do in enhancing openness and transparency in how we deal with all stakeholders, be they employees, shareholders, policy makers, politicians or regulators. This is something I will certainly be promoting in the next few years.

Accountability is the second issue on which I want to see significant progress. On a personal level, I am very conscious of the fact that the Central Bank of Ireland is enthusiastic about introducing a senior executive accountability regime. The only thing delaying it is the availability of parliamentary time. I welcome that development which should be applauded. We are already preparing for it within AIB.

The third prominent feature that I want to characterise my time as CEO of the institution is sustainability. The bank has a greater role to play in the decarbonisation of the economy, supporting renewable energy development within the economy and further afield and committing to supporting the sustainability of communities throughout the State. There is an inexorable drive towards digitalisation and mobile transactions. In 2015 the number of interactions or touch points between us and our customers conducted using mobile devices to check a balance, rather than make a transaction, was nearly 148,000 per day. Today it is 1.2 million. Despite the race towards digitalisation, it is very important that we continue to have the best-in-class digital technology. Given the number of interactions with our customers, we are by some margin Ireland's biggest financial technology company. We marry that highly efficient, speedy means of engagement with our customers with a commitment to communities in the form of our staff who operate all around the State and live and work in every county. I remain very committed to having the shop window our branch network provides us all around the island. There are more than 200 AIB branches and more than 70 EBS branches. This forms a very important part of our sustainability as a bank and commitment to communities. By sustainability I mean something far broader than renewable energy, although renewable energy development is a major personal priority for me and the institution.