Diarmaid Kehoe

Good morning, Joe.

The EIB, well, EIB was established in the 1950s as the sort of financing arm for Europe.

It's owned by the citizens of Europe.

So the Minister for Finance in each country sits on our Board of Governors and it's directed by the countries and citizens of Europe.

So it acts on a not-for-profit basis and it's the biggest bank of its form.

We refer to it as a multilateral development bank.

It's the biggest bank of its form in the world.

So it works on a not-for-profit basis to offer low-cost finance

to projects, to countries, to companies that are aligned with broader EU policy goals.

So it's a policy-driven bank.

We have our heart in the right place.

We're always trying to do the right thing to push forward European economic development and European societal development.

I mean a lot of our work is on the public sector side in Ireland supporting various Irish government departments in taking forward their ambitions.

EIB over the years has provided significant financing into the Department of Education to support schools construction all across the country on the education side at a higher level.

Are they loans or grants?

So the EIB provides loans, so it's finance that is repayable.

What we do is, just to explain, we benefit from a AAA credit rating.

So we are able to raise finance cheaper than almost anyone else in Europe.

Certainly lower than any company would indeed.

Ireland, I have to say now at this stage, is double A rated by the credit rating agencies.