Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have a couple of follow-up questions around the practicalities of how all of this is going to work. I had a message earlier from a constituent. Under normal circumstances, I do not believe he would be moving from Ulster Bank or KBC necessarily. It is just that, in the normal way, he has decided to take the advice that is often proffered to switch his bank accounts. It has taken four months to do that in normal times, and we are no longer in normal times. This has the potential to be catastrophic for individuals and for small businesses. I hope the Central Bank is aware of that and is prepared to take whatever action it can to try to ensure this unprecedented transfer of accounts is as seamless as possible.

Mr. Kincaid made the point that the banks are not where they need to be at this stage. The Central Bank Governor put it more bluntly earlier when he said the banks are simply not ready. We are expecting that over the next few days Ulster Bank will issue letters to several hundred thousand customers to alert them to what is expected of them and what is required over the next few months as it exits the market. We are in a difficult situation. The Governor said they are not ready. Mr. Kincaid said they are not where they ought to be. Is the six-month deadline that has been imposed by Ulster Bank for customers to close or switch their accounts appropriate or realistic, or should it change? If Mr. Kincaid and the Governor do not believe that the banks are ready, and given the fact we could potentially face a very serious interruption in our economy and in the personal lives of ordinary bank customers across the country, does Mr. Kincaid think that Ulster Bank should not send out those letters and that it should postpone that and extend the six-month period for switching and closing accounts?