Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I was aware that Bank of Ireland had not reduced the number of branches in County Clare, but I did not know this was the case nationally. I also am aware, however, that the bank has hugely reduced the services available at all local branches in Clare. There was a time when people going into their bank could expect to talk to a human being rather than having to interact with a machine. Automated services reduce costs, of course, but there are major problems when the machines break down.

Mr. McLoughlin spoke about Bank of Ireland's commitment to local communities. In a context where the Central Bank is trying to move us all towards a cashless society, ATMs have become more and more important. When they break down there is a serious problem, particularly for businesses which are reliant on cash. In my home town of Scariff, the machine breaks down every Christmas and is not fixed until the new year. It is an issue I have raised with the bank's staff. The problem is especially serious because Scariff is served only by Bank of Ireland, a scenario that applies also to three other Clare towns, namely, Tulla, Milltown Malbay and Kilkee. When the machine breaks down and there is no possibility of fixing it over a holiday period, this impacts negatively on the bank's customers, including business customers who rely on people having cash to spend it in their pubs, shops, restaurants and so on. When no money is available from the ATM, people simply move on to the next large town where the ATM facility of AIB or another of Bank of Ireland's competitors is actually working. That leaves a very poor impression.

I was contacted by a solicitor in Scariff recently who, although he is not reliant on ATM services as he is not a retailer, recognises how damaging this is for the businesses on which he relies. Furthermore, he pointed out, one cannot drop a letter into the bank's letter-box, because it is screwed shut. If one tries to contact the branch by telephone, one is put through to a central telephone service somewhere in the country. In other words, the branches are no longer bank branches as people would always have understood that concept. We are heading into a bank holiday weekend and there undoubtedly will be issues. Will Mr. McLoughlin come back to me next week with information on how many of the bank's ATMs did not work for the duration of the weekend, including the status of the facilities in Scariff, Tulla, Milltown Malbay and Kilkee? In the case of those four towns, as I said, the Bank of Ireland ATM facility is the only one.