The Central Bank of Ireland today set out eight “high level goals” to be achieved over the next three years.

The goals are contained in its second three-year strategic plan under the governorship of Patrick Honohan who was appointed in 2009 when the bank and its then sister organisation, the financial services regulator, were in crisis.

Among the goals set out today are the restoration of financial stability and providing support for economic recovery through successful exit from the EU-IMF Programme of Financial Support. The achievement of both goals will require a fully functioning banking system, the Central Bank said.

A second goal is to "reform the regulatory and supervisory framework to ensure risks to stability and consumer protection are identified and effectively mitigated".

The importance of retail confidence was further stressed by the bank. "Protecting consumers by challenging firms, improving firms' compliance, promoting a better culture in the financial sector and helping consumers have more confidence in financial services" is among its eight strategic goals.

Although the bank acknowledged that the successful implementation of the plan will require the continued improvement in its human resources, it expects a gradual reduction in resources from 2015 owing to efficiency gains and the completion of key initiatives.

Following the outbreak of the crisis the bank was given very large additional resources in recognition of how seriously the financial regulator had failed during the growth of the credit bubble in the years to 2008.