Ms Francesca McDonagh:

This is not a carrot-and-stick situation. We are responding to a change in consumer behaviour. Let us park banking for a moment. The way people consume media, newspapers and food ordering has shifted. I have no doubt even the Deputy may be purchasing some items online. Banking is not immune to that. Even though we may enjoy going shopping not everyone necessarily enjoys going into a branch. If customers can find a more convenient instant way, for example, to apply for a loan, they will do so. We are the leading provider to the agricultural sector. Some 80% of our loans in the agricultural sector are done outside of branches. We bank 40,000 farmers. When we speak to farmers we hear they would prefer one of our mobile advisers to visit them within the restrictions that would be allowed, and this would have been pre-Covid. They would rather do their business online or by telephone so that they can spend their day running their farm. This is about customer behaviour.