Corporate Responsibility

Introduction

At Irish Bank Resolution Corporation we recognise our corporate obligations and responsibilities and are committed to fulfilling them.

We take a responsible approach to environmental issues and are proactive in seeking innovative ways in which to become more efficient. In addition, the management and staff of the Bank believe that a commitment to supporting the development of the wider community is an important part of our corporate responsibility (‘CR’).

We continually invest in the development and training of our staff, as well as maintaining quality relationships with our stakeholders.

Environment

Global warming and climate change are substantial concerns in today’s world. As a corporate citizen Irish Bank Resolution Corporation recognises its responsibility to the environment and aims to operate in a way which minimises its carbon footprint.

The Bank has an Energy Policy which recognises the importance of practising energy efficiency to minimise costs and impact on the environment and has appointed an Energy Manager with responsibility for promoting and managing this agenda throughout the Bank.

We are seeking to monitor and to report on our carbon footprint as an organisation. In this regard we have initiated measurement within the Bank on aspects of the Bank’s impact on the environment and we now obtain carbon tracking reports from a number of our suppliers. It is the Bank’s preference to source and deal with environmentally focused and aware suppliers and we have incorporated this preference into our tendering processes.

We continue to track three elements of the Bank’s impact on the environment, measuring electrical, gas and water consumption in our Irish offices and where possible in our overseas offices. On 27 March 2010, coinciding with Environmental Awareness Week, our Irish offices participated in Earth Hour 2010 with staff members being made aware of the need to conserve energy, reduce carbon emissions and reduce light pollution in the night skies. The Bank completed the Carbon Disclosure Project annual questionnaire in 2010 and will do so again in 2011.

The Bank has replaced its entire printer and photocopier fleet with a smaller number of new higher specification multifunction devices which conform to the best in class standards for minimising carbon footprint and energy consumption. The new multi-function devices support secure printing through the use of swipe cards and this has helped to reduce the volume of print output.

The Bank has now virtualised all of its production servers on to a smaller number of higher specification servers which consume less power. All of the Bank’s production server and storage infrastructure is now stored in purpose-built data centres where best in class air and water cooling are used to reduce power consumption, recycle water and reduce carbon footprint.

The Bank continues to use an energy company which is committed to sourcing most of its energy supplies from renewable sources. In Ireland, the Bank participated in the Electricity Winter Demand Reduction Scheme (‘WDRS’) from December 2010 to March 2011. Available information to date confirms that we achieved our committed reduction in electrical consumption.

It is Bank policy to recycle paper, cardboard, glass and computer consumables where possible. All electronic and electrical equipment is disposed of in a safe and environmentally responsible way as stipulated in the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. The use of technology such as email and electronic payments across the Group has significantly reduced paper usage. The Bank encourages its customers to receive electronic statements and to utilise electronic payments. In addition, the use of video, web meetings and teleconferencing facilities across all offices is reducing our business travel and therefore minimising our carbon footprint.

It is important to the Bank to continue to increase the environmental awareness of the Group’s staff. In 2010, we continued to increase our waste recycling rates through improved waste segregation methods and awareness amongst staff in our Dublin offices. These are now being formally measured and reported on by our service providers on a monthly basis. We will continue to focus our attention in 2011 on further reducing resource consumption and maintaining responsible methods of waste disposal.

The Bank has actively promoted the Government’s Cycle to Work Scheme which was introduced in January 2009.

In keeping with our environmental policies, we have worked with our print partner to minimise the environmental impact of our Annual Report publication in two ways. Firstly, the paper selected for the Report comes from certified well managed forests, accredited by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (‘PEFC’) to a standard known as Chain of Custody. These certified forests are managed to ensure long term timber supplies while protecting the environment and the lives of forest dependent people.

Secondly, the Annual Report will be a Carbon Neutral® publication. This was achieved by selecting a print partner who is already CarbonNeutral® and by offsetting the lifecycle emissions of the paper that was used in the Annual Report. The Bank is pleased to be able to add both the CarbonNeutral® and the PEFC logos to this report as evidence of achieving these standards.

In addition, the Bank provides an online version of its Annual Report in Adobe® format which is available on www.ibrc.ie.

Community

Our community strategy seeks to ensure that the Bank does its part in encouraging social inclusiveness and supporting the young and disadvantaged. Our approach to CR in the community is rooted in the generosity and commitment of our staff, who give their time and effort to support a wide range of worthwhile causes.

The Bank is a founding member of Business in the Community (‘BITC’) which works with Irish companies seeking to make a positive impact on society through numerous initiatives which focus on community involvement.

In Ireland, the Bank continues to support and develop our mentoring programmes for secondary level students of Warrenmount School in the Liberties district of Dublin. We started this programme in 2000 and since then it has received widespread commitment from staff who, with the Bank’s support, offer their time to help students realise their full potential. To date, over 130 members of staff have been involved with the Warrenmount initiative. The mentoring scheme enables the pupils to develop important personal and professional skills which will benefit their future lives and careers.

The management and staff of the Bank feel that supporting the disadvantaged to attain a third level education is of great benefit to both the individual and the wider community. It is an investment that continues to benefit the entire community long after the initial support or funding is provided. To this end, we are pleased to continue our Access Scholarship Programmes for disadvantaged students in Dublin City University and University of Limerick. In close cooperation with the universities, these programmes are structured to ensure the participating students are supported throughout the duration of their chosen degree course.

The Bank has a history of supporting a number of charities. A significant number of our Irish employees participate in a ‘Give As You Earn’ scheme in support of Children Direct, a partnership of five Irish children’s charities: Temple Street Children’s Hospital, the ISPCC, Enable Ireland, Focus Ireland and ActionAid Ireland. Under this initiative, which has been in place since 2004, monthly donations made by staff are matched by the Bank.

The Social Finance Foundation (‘SFF’), a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, was created in 2006. SFF has become a significant wholesale supplier of funding for social finance through Social Lending Organisations who make micro-finance available for borrowers. In 2007, Irish Bank Resolution Corporation was one of a number of banks who contributed seed capital totalling €25m to launch this initiative.

In April 2009, new arrangements were agreed and put in place regarding the SFF’s resourcing by banking institutions to ensure that it will continue to operate on a sustainable, long term footing. Irish Bank Resolution Corporation is one of the contributing institutions making €72m available in loans over the next 12 years at very competitive interest rates appropriate for social finance.

Workplace

The skill of our people is important to the Bank. We aim to develop our people by furthering their technical and specialist competencies. This ensures that our employees receive the appropriate training to help them undertake their role within the Bank.

In order to further support up-skilling, the Bank is committed to assisting employees in furthering their education. This includes funding to cover approved course fees and study leave in advance of exams.

Employee well-being is of continual importance to us. The Bank runs an Employee Well-Being scheme, which is available to staff in Ireland and is operated in conjunction with an independent consultancy firm. This service offers confidential support to staff. Similar programmes exist for UK staff (Employee Assistance Programme) and US staff (Ability Assist).

From the date they join, all employees are covered under the Bank’s life assurance and disability insurance policies, giving staff members and their families a reassuring level of financial protection. As well as supporting our staff during their careers, we are committed to safeguarding their future later in life. We therefore continue to support an incentive based pension scheme, whereby staff are encouraged to make additional voluntary contributions (‘AVCs’) to their pension. Under the scheme, the Bank matches, on a one-for-one basis, AVCs made by staff up to a pre-defined level.

In conclusion, the staff, management team and Board of the Bank aspire to uphold a set of core values and principles by which to operate in the best interests of all our stakeholders – the Minister for Finance, customers, suppliers, regulatory bodies and the community.

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