Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Mr. McLoughlin outlined the relatively good news that the bank was going to keep its branch network, given the importance it attaches to same. He also stated the bank's customer analysis pointed to how important it was for customers to be able to engage with the bank face to face. In the past 12 months, however, the bank has removed a link between branches and customers. When one telephones a local branch in Scariff, Miltown Malbay or so on, one gets through to a central call centre and it is not possible to speak to the branch staff with whom one has built up a relationship. The bank has maintained the ability to telephone the branch in the Law Library, but ordinary people in counties Clare, Kerry and Donegal are unable to telephone their local branches. Does this demonstrate an ability to interact with staff? As people now realise, banking is about relationships. Does Mr. McLoughlin accept that part of the reason Bank of Ireland did not lose as much as other banks was that it maintained a more traditional practice of building relationships with customers? If so, why is it seeking to make interacting with branch staff more difficult?