The CEO of Bank of Ireland has apologised for what he calls a 'significant technology outage' at the company this week.
In his first public comments since the debacle, Myles O'Grady said customers were "impacted badly by this failure".
"We fell well below the standards our customers expect of us and I apologise sincerely for this," he said.
The glitch saw queues formed at ATMs on Tuesday night, after people reported seeing and being able to access money in their accounts they did not have before.
The incident also made international headlines around the world.
Mr O'Grady said the bank is working to put things right.
"Banking is based on reputation and trust. We have damaged this with our customers and wider society," he said.
"We are working to put things right.
A general view of an ATM withdrawal in Dublin. Picture by: Julien Behal/PA Archive/PA Images"On Tuesday, our mobile app and digital banking services were unavailable to customers. Our priority was that all customers continued to have access to cash and could transact on their cards to manage their daily needs, in cash, online or in a shop," he said.
"The challenge in doing this during an outage is that customers couldn’t check their balance and some may now find themselves overdrawn.
"I encourage any customers who were impacted by this week’s incident to contact us so that we can work together to find an appropriate solution".
Mr O'Grady said supports are in place for those affected, including interest-free temporary overdrafts.
"Our focus this week is on restoring services, ensuring the stability of our systems, and helping customers," he said.
"We know we need to do better in future. We continue to invest in our technology to ensure customers have the very best banking services," he added.
The Central Bank has said it is working to establish 'a full account' of the incident and is monitoring the situation.
