Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

One thing this committee has been discussing and dealing with is the future of Ulster Bank. Last week, we had representatives from the Financial Services Union, FSU, before the committee. Unfortunately, it was only representatives from that union who were available to speak to us then. I feel strongly about the future of Ulster Bank, because it supports 3,000 people in jobs on a regionally-balanced basis. We are concerned about the major impact of any change in that regard. In 2019, Ulster Bank provided new lending of €3.1 billion into the southern economy, with deposits of €22 billion. Ulster Bank is the third largest mortgage lender in this State and provides 20% of lending to our SMEs.

We are concerned about its future. The parent company of Ulster Bank, NatWest, has stated that it will undertake a strategic review of the operations of Ulster Bank, including the potential closure of the bank's operations in this State. It was also reported recently that Goldman Sachs has been employed to undertake that strategic review. The witnesses will be aware that Goldman Sachs itself has been involved in the Irish mortgage market, namely, in setting up vulture funds which have bought up distressed debts from our retail banks and then selling on those debts, without paying a cent in tax on its profits, through section 100 structures. Can the witnesses tell us what contact there may have been between them, the FSU and Ulster Bank staff in respect of NatWest or Ulster Bank regarding terms of reference of this strategic review?