Ms Francesca McDonagh:

I thank the Deputy for his positive feedback, which Mr. Kelly and I will share with our colleagues. I could not agree more with the point about the importance of visibility and physical identity and that is why we are maintaining 169 branches. That is very important for our customers and I do not foresee a branchless society in Ireland in the coming years.

We would be very mindful of supporting SMEs, particularly as we come out of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy recovers. Since the start I have joined my colleagues in conversations with SMEs and corporates. We have spoken to the trade associations that have been most severely impacted, through no fault of their own; they have just not been able to trade. We have a long track record in SME lending and have sector specialists who are not only bankers but also practitioners in sectors like healthcare, agrifood, retail and many others. We will seek to support SMEs to come out of this, wherever possible. Brexit has created a huge amount of uncertainty and underinvestment in Irish SMEs. There are still non-tariff barriers that are impacting some elements of the supply chain but hopefully they are temporary in nature. The Covid-19 impact has been immeasurable but we are committed to supporting growth and recovery as we, hopefully, come out of this period.