Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the delegates from the banks, the credit unions and An Post. All of these facilities are important in the part of the world from which we come - rural Ireland. Since the recession people no longer know their bank managers or bank officials in the way they used to know them. I am sorry to say I agree with Deputy Martin Heydon that power seems to have been taken from the local bank manager. That appears to be the case in dealing with loan applications. It is a shame because bank managers had good engagement with their customers. They knew with whom they were dealing. When someone came in to apply for a loan, they knew his or her background and were well aware of to whom they would be giving a loan, but power appears to have been taken from them and it is others up along the line who do not know the customers who are dealing with them. That is a retrograde step.

There was a young fellow on a farm at home who wished to build a house for himself, for which he wanted a loan of €100,000. One of the two banks represented here would not give him a loan of €100,000, but it was prepared to give him a loan of €180,000. The problem was, based on his income, he would not be considered for a loan of that amount. The young man in question knew what he was doing. He was able to build enough in which he could live - the kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. He would build as much as was needed to tide him over, to which he would add as the years went by. He had brothers and cousins, as well as others, all of whom were willing to help him build the house. However, whoever was making the decision on the loan application decided that the house would have to be completed in order that if it was not being paid for, there would be a more saleable asset to dispose of. The person who made the decision did not know who it was he or she dealing with.

I disagree with the representatives that most people are happy with the arrangements made in banks nowadays. Many elderly persons cannot manage the technology used. Some such as Deputy Ciarán Cannon's mother can, which is fine, but not everyone can. For that reason, they seem to be locked out of banks. They cannot go there in the way they used to and are not getting the service they were used to.

I appreciate very much the work of the credit unions. I make no apology for saying many families would be hungry - their tables would be short of food - were it not for the credit unions which do wonderful work, or at least they do in my neck of the woods. We are proud and glad of their involvement in rural communities especially.

There is a lot of talk about post offices. If the local post office is lost, it will go a long way towards the parish or village losing its identity. The creamery has closed, as have many local shops, while rural pubs are under severe pressure. The local post office is the last place that ensures the retention of the identity of a village or parish. I am worried that local post offices do not have the full backing of An Post. Like my brother, I, too, am worried that some elements within An Post are hell-bent on redundancies and closing down more post offices. Perhaps they might be doing a little more business, but they have asked to provide extra services such as the making of social welfare payments. They received a commitment from the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Leo Varadkar, in that regard, but it does not seem to be happening all of the time.