AIB offers an AER for regular savers of 7.1 % for amounts between 10 and 300 a month.

For that little bit extra, EBS and Anglo Irish Bank offer 7% interest on monthly deposits of 1,000, with Halifax offering the same rate up as far as 750.

Lotto winners should have a look at Irish Nationwide which has just upped its two-year fixed bond rate to 9.5%, or 4.64% APR, which is the best value on amounts between 20,000 and 1m.

BEST CREDIT CARDS

Halifax's purchase-rate 9.5% is still the best around, especially as the first six months are at 0% interest. Its cash rate is also competitive at 11.2% ? NIB's Mastercard Gold has a cheaper interest rate of 9.4% but is only available to its fee-paying current account-holders.

BEST BANK FOR YOUR MONEY

Pay your salary or 1,500 a month into a Halifax current account and you can earn 10% interest on your balance up to 2,000. There are no transaction fees whatsoever and Halifax also has the best overdraft rate of 9.43%

BEST SAFE PLACE FOR YOUR SSIA LUMP SUM

First Active's eSavings account offers the highest rates for SSIA savers with a rate of 5.22% on amounts up to 15,000 and 4.07% on amounts up to 1m.

BEST PERSONAL LOAN

First Active offers the best loan rates for loans under 30,000 over five years of 6.8% APR. Tesco and Halifax are both offering 6.9% for cash boosts and you do not have to be a current account customer.

BEST STOCKBROKING CHARGES

The cheapest way to play the stock exchange is with Sharewatch which charges 60 a year and 0.3% commission per online trade for buying and selling Irish shares. There's a minimum charge of 20.

BEST MORTGAGE SWITCHER

NIB leads the market for mortgage switchers with rates that go between 0.5 and 0.59 points above the ECB interest rate. If you are looking for a mortgage at 60% of the value of your home, it can be a big saving over the life of the loan.

NIB also doesn't penalise you if you decide to switch again.

Also worth checking out is Hibernian which will pay 1,200 towards your legal fees for switching, 150 towards your home insurance and a valuation fee up to 150. Keep a close eye on the small print though.