Corporate Responsibility Statement 2008

• Introduction
• Playing our part in the Community
• Playing our part in the Marketplace
• Playing our part in the workplace
• Playing our part in the Environment

In Bank of Ireland Group, we recognise the importance of long-term commitment, co-operation, trust and integrity in the conduct of sustainable relationships with groups of people who have a key stakeholding interest in our business. In addition to our stockholders these include customers, employees, investors, regulators and business partners. We also recognise a wider responsibility towards the communities in which we do business, and the environment in which we operate.

Since formalising our approach to Corporate Responsibility in 2003, the Group has received considerable independent external recognition of its programme including ongoing membership of the FTSE4Good index - a listing of companies that manage their social, ethical and environmental impacts.

In this, our fifth successive Corporate Responsibility report, we give an insight into some of the activity taking place throughout the Group that demonstrates our commitment to the principles of being a good Corporate Citizen.

Give Together

In last year's report, we gave details about Give Together our new community investment initiative launched in 2007. Give Together is based on the strong ethos of volunteering by our employees and facilitates those who wish to volunteer their time and support causes that are important to them. Through Give Together, Bank of Ireland provides one day of paid leave to each employee each year to volunteer their time to a cause of their choice. We have also put in place an annual fund to allow the Bank to contribute to employee fundraising and support their volunteering.

Since the launch of Give Together in March 2007, employees have truly embraced the opportunity to reach out to their communities and support the causes they hold dear. In the last year over 1,800 employees have participated in fundraising activities and a further 1,000 have used their volunteer days - the equivalent of almost 4 years of paid work hours given to their communities and chosen charities in time. In addition, the funds raised by employees with the help of Give Together, has amounted to €4.5m.

To date over 800 charitable / community groups have benefited from Give Together across a wide range of different causes in the different markets in which the Group operates.

We also provide extensive information about volunteering and promote volunteering opportunities on our employee intranet, which we receive from the community and charitable sector. This facilitates the participation of employees who might not have a personal favourite charity or those who are looking to make a contribution.

"It's the whole promotion of the scheme that anyone with a slight inclination to volunteer might be more encouraged.......there is a structure there, clearly highlighting the bank's support of volunteering in the community". Extract of employee research 2007, conducted to ascertain views of Give Together.

Millennium Scholars Trust

This is the penultimate year of scholarships being awarded by the Bank of Ireland Millennium Scholars Trust. Since it started in 2000, almost 500 scholarships have been granted to students who otherwise may not have been able to fulfill their potential or personal goals by attending 3rd level education. For the final two years of the Trust, the number of scholarships on offer has been increased to 100 each year so that even more students will be able to participate. Commenting on the importance of the Millennium Scholars Trust at the Annual Awards Event, the former Irish Minister For Education & Science, Mary Hanafin T.D. stressed the importance of widening access to third level education and highlighted the positive impact that increased investment, resources and partnerships has had on higher education.

Withywood

Bank of Ireland UK continues with its support of an Academy in Withywood - a disadvantaged area in South Bristol. In addition to the initial donation of £200,000, a voluntary scheme was launched for local Temple Quay staff in Bristol to help students to design and deliver the 'Preparation for Working Life' part of their syllabus.

Since October 2007, three new work streams have been developed to help students including CV Writing and Interview Skills. Classes are taught and delivered by 65 Bank staff in 24 sessions and 6 visits to the Bank's office in Bristol. These provide the opportunity for students to work with a variety of adults in a formal manner, helping to improve social skills and to introduce working life outside the school gates.

• In the Group's Retail Division in Ireland, the Bank launched a Polish Business Proposition in June 2007 in response to the increase in Polish customers setting up businesses here in Ireland. Our highly competitive Business Start Up package was developed to help these customers with their specific needs. Since June, over 400 Polish Business customers have opened Business accounts with us. We have received significant interest from the Branch network, with many branches hosting their own Polish evenings. A key part of our Polish Business customer proposition is our dedicated support panel which has established links with solicitors and accountants throughout Ireland who have Polish speaking personnel. This development builds on previous initiatives to address the financial needs of the growing migrant population in Ireland.



• In our Life Assurance Business in Ireland, we announced our participation in the Hepatitis C insurance scheme operated by the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE). The Hepatitis C Insurance Scheme was launched to make life insurance cover available at normal costs to those who acquired Hepatitis C and/or HIV through State-provided infected blood or blood products. Many of those affected would have previously been unable to secure life assurance, making it impossible to provide protection for their families or even take out a mortgage. Participation in the HSE scheme is an important social initiative and the process developed will serve those eligible in a sensitive and efficient manner.



• The Group received considerable external accreditation in 2007, reflecting its positioning in the various markets in which it operates as follows:
  
  
  • Bank of Ireland has been listed among the Top 100 World Banks in The Banker magazine's Top 1,000 World Banks 2007 ranking. In their 38th annual global listing, and their most comprehensive survey yet, Bank of Ireland achieved an international ranking of 80. Published in the July 2007 issue of The Banker, the Top 1,000 World Banks is a comprehensive listing of the world's leading commercial banks. As well as assessing the strength of banks worldwide, the Top 1,000 listing takes into account a number of performance indicators, such as real profits growth and return on assets. The ranking is also broken down by country and region.
  
  
  
  • 365online.com was named Best Online Banking service at the Irish Internet Association's (IIA) Net Visionary Awards in November 2007. This award came on the back of a €10 million investment and the successful launch of a range of new services introduced on 365online.com in mid October 2007.
  
  
  
  • The Bank also won three awards, including "Customer Service Team of the Year", at the Customer Service Awards Ireland in June 2007. Bank of Ireland Life's Individual Pensions New Business Team won both the Financial Services Customer Service Team of the Year and the grand prix Overall Customer Service Team of the Year 2007, while the Customer Programme Service Excellence Team were winners of Customer Service Training Team of the Year award - for the second year in a row. The Customer Service Awards are significant in that they recognise excellence not only across financial services, but all Irish industry sectors.
  
  
  
  • Bristol & West Mortgages achieved a five star rating in the prestigious Financial Adviser Service Awards. These awards are the UK industry's most prestigious and are considered to be the benchmark for service standards. Only a handful of companies receive a five star rating and this is the first time that we have achieved this level of recognition. The award is voted for by thousands of Independent Financial Advisers and mortgage brokers and is independently audited.

• The results of our sixth Group Employee Engagement survey issued in March 2008. These results act as a catalyst for quality team discussions about different aspects of employee engagement and what it means to work for the Bank of Ireland Group. We have seen a consistent improvement in engagement levels across the organisation and have experienced the positive impact it can have in supporting the growth of our business. Equally important is the difference it can have in making Bank of Ireland a great place to work. Our ratio of employee engagement across the Group is at best practice level when benchmarked against external industry. The chart illustrates the Group's percentile ranking when benchmarked showing a consistent level of improvement year on year.



• At Bank of Ireland Group we are committed to encouraging and supporting the education, training and development of our employees in line with their role, business requirements and individual development needs. Through our Learningzone service we deliver a wide range of learning and educational programmes via instructor led courses, technology based solutions and support for 3rd level education programmes. During 2007/08, in excess of 22,000 student days of classroom training and 25,000 e learning programmes were completed across the Group.



• Bank of Ireland Private Banking recently commenced its second wealth academy programme aimed at providing an excellent foundation for participants who wish to pursue careers in wealth management. The Bank of Ireland Private Banking Academy was established in 2006 for the purpose of accelerating the development of exceptional client relationship managers via an intensive, full time, six month training programme aimed at enhancing their skills, knowledge and expertise and positioning them to become their clients' principle investment advisor. The programme was created in consultation with Professor John Murray, Chair in Business Studies, Trinity College Dublin and is modelled on a business school concept.



• As part of our objective to ensure our employees share with stockholders in the continuing success of the business, we launched our 4th Save As You Earn (SAYE) scheme, which was taken up by 56% of eligible employees. SAYE allows employees to acquire Bank Stock at an attractively discounted price and provides a convenient way to save. The Group also continues to operate its annual Staff Stock Issue / Stock Incentive Plan. Both schemes offer employees an opportunity to avail of a free stock award based on the performance of the Group over the financial year. Both the SAYE and Staff Stock Issue / Stock Incentive Plan schemes operated in the Group are Revenue approved schemes which means that both schemes offer employees the maximum tax efficiency permitted by the Revenue Commissioners and HM Revenue and Customs respectively.

• Bank of Ireland continues to enjoy a unique position in the fast growing carbon markets, as the sole domestic bank with a transactional capability in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS). During the year we have developed a suite of risk management products for Phase II of the Scheme. We have also extended our activities in the carbon market into the UK and US with a number of initiatives. Our position as treasury specialists in this area has prompted governmental and professional bodies to actively seek our input with regard to the future direction of the market and the formulation of policy.



• During the past year, Bank of Ireland UK launched a new mortgage that will offset the carbon footprint of the average home. The Carbon Offset Mortgage is designed to appeal to the increasing number of consumers who would like to do their bit for the environment. It works by offsetting 100% of an average home's carbon emissions for each year of the promotional period of the loan. The Giraffe Carbon Offset mortgage works by retiring carbon credits from the EUETS. This approach conforms to the UK Government's proposed Code of Best Practice for Carbon Offsetting. Giraffe received this year's 'Your Money' magazine's Editor's Special Award. This award is given to an organisation that has delivered significant value to the consumer in a manner that falls outside the standard judging criteria of the other product categories. 'Your Money' felt that the product was a very real effort to involve home owners in taking an active part in helping the environment and giving the consumer an option to make a positive contribution to cutting carbon emissions.



• As a founding member of Business in the Community Ireland, we actively participate at all relevant opportunities. During the year we have taken part in its "Sharing and Learning Working Group" aimed at reducing the carbon footprint. The purpose of the group is to provide an opportunity for companies to share information and best practice around the issue of climate change and to explore challenges and opportunities facing companies in this area. The companies in this group recognise the role that they can play in addressing the environmental challenges facing society today, working towards improving best practice in this area and measuring their carbon footprint with the intention of reducing it.

In summary, 2007/08 marked further progress in the Group's Corporate Responsibility Programme. We look forward to reporting continued progress in the coming year.