Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Byrne and his colleagues and like Deputy Doherty I thank him for the information he provided in advance by way of the questionnaire.

I will start on the issue of the bank's interest rates, the standard variable rates, SVRs, and acknowledge the progress AIB has made on that front and the fact that the bank does not differentiate between new and existing customers, unlike some other banks. AIB has a very competitive SVR, and that must be acknowledged.

I do wish to ask about EBS and the reason the previous time AIB announced a rate cut, which took effect on 1 July, a corresponding cut was not applied to existing EBS customers. If one looks at the table AIB has provided on page 4 of the questionnaire there is a difference of between 0.2% and 0.3% in the rate. Existing EBS customers feel very aggrieved. Could Mr. Byrne please address that issue?