The Department of Finance has beefed up its staff by making two senior appointments. Neil Ryan, a former director of Swiss investment bank UBS in London, has been appointed assistant secretary in the banking division of the department reporting to the head of banking, John Moran.

Department official Aidan Carrigan, who has worked on the recapitalisation and restructuring of the banks, has been appointed assistant secretary in the department’s financial services division. He will lead a team responsible for non-banking financial services policy and managing legislative programmes on financial services.