Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the clarity Ms McDonagh provided. I will move to a wider question which she touched on in her opening remarks and in the notes she presented. The future of the Irish banking sector has been an underlying theme not just in this engagement but in all our engagements. We have gone through a tumultuous number of weeks in which a long-standing service provider announced it is to leave the market. The system of banking is changing rapidly. The closure of branches, regardless of whether we like or whether it is modernisation or something else, is devastating for many communities. We have also heard rumours that there are other concerns for other institutions.

Perhaps the issue I am about to raise is one for the Central Bank and the Minister for Finance. I have tabled parliamentary questions on it to the Minister and I have tried to ask the Central Bank the same question a number of times. What is the future of the Irish banking sector? Why are banks not coming into this market? What is so unattractive about the Irish market? How do we provide more options for customers? I know Ms McDonagh does not necessarily want to hear about competition but people on the street want to know where they can get cheaper mortgages, cheaper lending and perhaps a different type of service. What is the future of the sector? What opportunities and challenges does Brexit present to the entire banking and financial services sector?

I appreciate Ms McDonagh has two minutes to answer two big questions, but perhaps she could give a minute or two of insight on where she sees her bank going in those areas in the future and what ordinary people like me and many other committee members who happen to be customers of Bank of Ireland can expect.