Mortgage breaks for customers in place due to the pandemic may not be extended past six months, Bank of Ireland's CEO has said.
Irish banks initially agreed to a three-month loan holiday, before granting an extension to half a year.
But bank chief Francesca McDonagh said she can't see the breaks going past that point as she announced the publication of the group's first quarter results.
She said: "We need to do that in a sustainable way and I believe the payment breaks give the space for homes and business owners.
"But the current plan is for those to be up to a maximum six months and then we will be there to help the Irish economy get back on its feet."
She told RTE News the bank is continuing to lend to customers who need it but admitted it "must be careful".
Ms McDonagh added: "I'm not aware of any single case today where a customer has lost their deposit as a result of a change in a Bank of Ireland mortgage.
"But we must be careful when we support customers that if their circumstances have changed significantly and their income is very different, it is not in anyone's interest for them to draw down a mortgage that they cannot afford to pay for the first month onwards."
The bank has set aside more than €250million to cover the loan losses as a result of Covid-19.
Ms McDonagh spoke of the uncertainty in the near future as sectors are being impacted differently, noting travel, hospitality or non-food retail as the worst-hit industries.
She said: "Different sectors are experiencing Covid-19 in different ways and we also see in what we call the Horizon 2, the gradual easing of restrictions coming at a different pace in different sectors.
"Our focus is on supporting our customers and that is why we have put in place mortgage payment breaks. This is an example of where we are leaning into the national effort to support businesses through this period of uncertainty."
She said the bank had strong lending growth and reduction in costs at the start of the year, despite the losses recorded by the bank coming as a result of the coronavirus.
"But the results today reflect the realities of Covid-19 and that includes a major part of the reason why we would have recorded a loss in the first quarter," she said.
"We decided to take a Covid-19 management overlay for a provision for a potential credit loss for the future of €250m.
"That's not specific against any deterioration we've seen in our loan book, but it is a recognition that the economic outlook for Ireland this year is of a quite significant contraction and an increase in unemployment.
"We expect to see that recover towards the end of this year and into 2021.
"But we wanted to take that prudent management overlay charge given the crisis we are all in."
