Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in today. There is a vacuum in rural Ireland in banking. The pillar banks have left rural Ireland and those which are still there have diminished customer service in, or excluded it from, their banks so it is difficult to speak to somebody when one goes into a bank now. One of the positive aspects of community banking is that customers deal with somebody who knows their community and knows the viability of the businesses that may be coming in to seek a loan. An Post has a trusted brand, has a national network and already has the IT systems in place. Through a public banking system, it should have the capacity to loan to businesses that cannot get a loan from the public banking system or from the pillar banks as they exist at the moment.

On the closure of post offices, is it too late for a community or public banking system to step in and preserve the network as it exists at the moment? The reason I am here today is to try to preserve the network as it exists. There needs to be a devolution of services to post offices from Government. All Government services should be available through the post office network. Community banking is another facet that could support post offices but how quickly can it be put in place and is it feasible for it to be put in place to maintain the network as it is at the moment?