Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Blažek and Mr. D'Arcy for their attendance. Customers do not normally change banks during the course of their banking life. It is rarely that people change from one bank to another, so when something is forced on them it causes concern and difficulty. I get contacted a lot of the time by bank customers because KBC is not the first bank to close down branches. We have had other banks in and have had discussions with them. We have gone through the issue in the committee and we understand the pressures on the banking system, the move to online banking and the reasons branches are closing and not operating.

My questions for the witnesses are directly from customers and I would appreciate if they could answer them. Some of those customers may be watching today or may go through the transcript of the meeting afterwards. I have a number of questions and I ask the witnesses to respond as simply as possible. The first question from a customer is when notice will be issued to KBC customers on the formal transition to becoming Bank of Ireland customers.