Agreement with Accenture to Provide Training and Purchasing Services

HR to be restructured to meet changing business needs

Bank of Ireland today (12 December 2005) announced further steps in its Strategic Transformation Programme which is targeting an annual reduction in costs of €120 million to be achieved over the next four years:

The Strategic Transformation Programme was announced in March of this year with the objective of creating a competitive, lower- cost operating model for Bank of Ireland Group.

The Bank will work closely with its employees and Accenture over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition of these services. In all approximately 180 employees are impacted by this agreement. They will either be retained within the training and purchasing areas, transfer to Accenture, be redeployed within Bank of Ireland or have an option for voluntary redundancy.

Commenting on today's announcement, Brian Goggin, Chief Executive, Bank of Ireland Group said: "The agreement with Accenture for the supply of training and purchasing services is a further significant step in our strategy to transform Bank of Ireland Group. It ensures that we source these services from a quality supplier, with proven global expertise and at the most efficient cost for the Group."

Implementation of the arrangements being announced today will add to the progress already made on the Strategic Transformation Programme. At its Interim Results announcement on 24 November, Bank of Ireland expressed confidence in achieving the first year savings target of €30 million. €10 million in savings had been achieved in the six months to end September and €18 million had been secured by end November. There has been a reduction in the number of employees of over 400 to date under the Programme. The early retirement programme for those not impacted by the Transformation process has been completed and a voluntary severance scheme for some of the impacted areas has been launched.

On the customer service and growth aspects of the Strategic Transformation Programme, Bank of Ireland is adding 500 staff in frontline areas in Retail Financial Services Ireland (RFSI) as part of the customer programme: "Changing for You" - of which 250 have been recruited so far. The Group has also recruited almost 200 skilled, experienced bankers, mainly in Corporate Banking and in Business Banking in the UK.

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Contact:Dan Loughrey,
Head of Group Corporate Communications
Tel:+353 1 604 3833

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 123,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US $15.55 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2005. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Accenture is the largest management consulting, technology services and outsourcing organisation in Ireland, where it earns revenues of more than €100m a year and employs about 1,200 people.

Anne Mathews
Media Relations Manager
Tel:01-6043836
Fax:01-6767850
Internet:www.boi.ie/pressroom
Mobile:087 246 0358
E-mail:anne.mathews@boimail.com