Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the legislation that has been published, which is very important. The general public is looking in on the debate and people are looking for accountability within the banking sector itself. They will ask questions such as who the banking system is. The traditional bank manager in branches no longer exists. Technically, call centres have replaced them. If a person applies for a loan, he or she does it online. We do not know who we are dealing with, and we have no personal relationship with that individual. When a person rings a call centre to go through the details, one speaks to a different operator on each occasion. There is a lack of accountability regarding who is the individual dealing with the application. That is very questionable when it comes to having an effective banking system.

I always refer to what happened in west Cork in the past six to eight months when there was a proposal to close the automated teller machines, ATMs, throughout the entire area. Castletownbere would have been an hour from the nearest ATM if AIB got its way. That is what it proposed to do in rural parts of west Cork. The question is who the individuals in charge of the banking sector at a local level are. We do not know who they are any more. Traditionally, one knew one's bank manager on first-name terms and one could contact him or her but that is no longer the case. Now, the bank manager is assigned from Dublin and there is no personal connection. Because of that, the public will ask what we are doing to make sure that we have accountability when it comes to the people who make decisions on stocking loans or small farm developments. Now, it is literally done online in a manner that provides no accountability for the punter on the other end of the line.To say the very least, that is questionable. We must have a line of accountability or otherwise it will fail.

An interesting point was made about vulture funds. Those of us who have people coming to our clinics who have issues with vulture funds, would have a better chance of contacting God than the companies involved. They are uncontactable. They do not return a letter, phone call or email. They are entities in the cloud that do not exist for anyone who has an issue pertaining to them. They are nearly as bad as the pillar banks we have. A significant issue arises with how we are going to ensure the required engagement and accountability. Perhaps it is personal to me, but I have never received a response to issues raised on behalf of constituents who come to my office, in particular in the past eight months. In that period there has been a significant change in how vulture funds are operating within the marketplace. I do not have the answer to that, but I am nervous about what their long-term game here is.

I very much welcome the legislation. I look forward to it being teased out. The public want accountability and now, unfortunately, they generally feel frustrated by the lack of accountability.