Mr. Ciarán Coyle:

I am just sharing with the Senator the tiered model. If someone chooses to use the chip and pin payment, a direct debit or a standing order it is 20 cent. The Senator also commented on our contactless payment charge, which is 1 cent. The cost to us of effecting a contactless payment is not materially different from a person paying with chip and pin, but we recognise that in the market more and more people are using contactless payments for transactions under €30. It is quicker for customers and better for retailers. We want to encourage that. We give the contactless charge at a more discounted rate because we can see this is where the market trend is going. On our overall fees versus those of our competitors, as Ms Howard has said I cannot comment on the cost base of our competitors and what their commercial decisions are. In the round and given the options and transparency of fees we are satisfied with the blend we have right now. The fees and charges, as was indicated, remain under review. Putting this into context there are also the 25% of customers who are either students or those aged over 66 who do not pay fees and some 35% of customers who pay maintenance fees, which leaves us with 46% of people who pay the transactions fees. This is the way we have been thinking about it. I hope this is helpful in explaining the way we have approached it.