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

It is good to hear that because it is a concern of mine and I am sure of other members that the closure of 88 branches may be a precursor to more branches being closed, which is not something any member of this committee would want to see.

One of the advantages of having local branches is that local bank managers have a good knowledge of their community and area. That is of much use to a bank because such people will have a good assessment as to whether somebody would be a reliable borrower of money as opposed to somebody based centrally in Dublin examining an application who may not have that level of information. What level of autonomy do local branch managers have at present when it comes to requests for business loans of, say, up to €100,000?