Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The questionnaire is very detailed. I have gone through all 39 pages and all the sections in them. Clearly, the upgrading of the branches to have full cash and so forth is a welcome development. I have seen the clusters and community hubs in my area, and the ability of people to come in has been a very positive development. How far has that concept been rolled out? My branch is in Montrose and it is transformed from what it was. Most bank branches are very different from what they were five or ten years ago in terms of the interaction of people and using the facility for all kinds of things that would never have been considered previously. Some people are on a journey with technology but most people are getting there.

With regard to the branch network, Bank of Ireland is not trying to close branches and, in fact, has opened branches recently. In terms of ATM security, there were nine incidents and at least one involved Bank of Ireland. There are diggers travelling around the Border digging out ATMs. Is there a plan to try to ensure this does not happen too often? These things can happen but I believe there have been nine incidents on either side of the Border in the past year. It is a challenge. I am aware of the future of money. I attended a recent talk in the Central Bank about payments technology. It is 1 cent for contactless and 10 cent for chip and pin. There are issues today that probably none of us appreciated previously. There is the future of the network and the journey we need to bring some people on in terms of technology and being cashless. We are dragging money out of the Central Bank at the end of every month under Army escort to bring it to post offices and to secure it while people have it under the bed.

What does Ms McDonagh envisage in the banking sector? Many people have voted with their telephone, online presence and so forth, but some people are very challenged by that and perhaps need some training or help to go on that journey. Some people do not want to go on that journey, which is presumably their own business. Where does Ms McDonagh see banking in five years at customer level?