Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Does the Minister believe that Bank of Ireland should not close branches in the middle of a pandemic? The regulator in Britain has called on banks not to close their branches in the middle of a pandemic. There is a rationale for it. The rationale is that it is hard to reach vulnerable customers. It is hard to reach businesses that are temporarily closed at this time and therefore it should not be happening. We have called for the establishment of a forum on the future of banking. That should be allowed to run over the course of 2021 and into 2022.

Bar the fact that the Minister is now a Minister as opposed to sitting on this committee as an ordinary member, I do not understand why he does not support what I believe the people are looking for, which is to ask Bank of Ireland not to close these branches in the middle of a pandemic. While the Minister cannot direct or dictate, undoubtedly the Minister can influence the decision and ask Bank of Ireland to reconsider it. Business plans need to be submitted to the Minister for his consideration before they even go before the court of directors of Bank of Ireland. It is not the case that the Minister cannot say anything. Does the Minister have an opinion on this? Does he believe, as the Chairman of this committee who is a party colleague of the Minister's has called for, that this decision should be reversed and these closures should not happen in the middle of a pandemic?