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

I thank the officials from Ulster Bank for appearing before the committee. I believe the Ulster Bank staff have been treated shabbily by the bank. I will not repeat some of the questions that were asked by my colleagues earlier, but I ask that they would also be answered. As well as being a great disappointment and a cause of strife for the staff and customers of Ulster Bank, this is also a very significant decision from the point of view of the Irish public and indeed banking in Ireland. We will now have a banking sector that is less competitive and has more dominance by the State within the three banks in which the State has shareholdings.

I ask this question of Ms Howard. Why does Ulster Bank believe it is necessary to leave the Irish market? I know that the chief executive of NatWest, Ms Rose, stated that the bank was unable to generate sustainable long-term returns for its shareholders. I suppose being blunt, that means it was not satisfied with the level of profits that could be made by Ulster Bank. Why was NatWest in the UK able to deliver a return of 9.4% on equity across the group and yet Ulster Bank in Ireland was only able to deliver a return of 2.3% on equity in 2019? Is the high level of capital that banks in Ireland are required to hold against mortgage loans a factor in Ulster Bank leaving the Irish market? Was the elevated level of risk-weighted assets required for Irish banks a factor that contributed to Ulster Bank's decision to leave the Irish market?

Does Ulster Bank believe that another recession may be coming and is it concerned about its loans in the Irish market because of the historical failures with loans made here previously? I would appreciate an honest assessment as to why Ulster Bank is leaving. Ulster Bank has been in Ireland for 170 years. Why do banks that come to Ireland or stay in Ireland seem to find it more difficult to make profits to the same extent that banks in the UK or in other European Union countries can?