Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. O'Connell very much for his presentation. I express my sympathies to all of the staff of Ulster Bank, who are obviously going through a very stressful time. I appreciate the concern Mr. O'Connell has for those staff. I note that he has stated he believes they have been treated shabbily. I have to agree with what he has said. His statement was very clear in setting out the FSU's asks of this committee and what it would like us to put to Ulster Bank. These include that jobs must follow work, that there must be no compulsory redundancies and the issue of bank closures.

I will ask a more general question on the future of banking in Ireland. It is of concern that we have lost a competitor in the banking sector in Ireland and that, once again, the State will become an even more dominant player in that sector because of the assets it holds in AIB, Permanent TSB and Bank of Ireland. What does Mr. O'Connell think can be done to make Ireland more attractive to banks that may wish to open here? I have no doubt that one of the arguments banks will make is that the exceptionally high levels of capital that banks are required to hold against mortgage loans deters banks from setting up or remaining here. I know it is not the function of a union representative to answer such questions, but I would be interested to hear what Mr. O'Connell believes are the barriers to banks remaining in and entering the market.