Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I would expect so. I would hope the regulator would act in the best interests of customers. We all want this to work. This is an unprecedented challenge. We all understand the scale of the challenge the retail banks face and the difficulties that will be presented for the witnesses as senior executives and for staff over the next period of time.

Mr. Hayes referred on a number of occasions to the application of the switching code and some of the deficiencies in the code. It is nobody's fault that deficiencies are there. The switching code is old. Based on what Mr. Hayes said, we could all probably agree it needs to be modernised and updated to reflect new ways of doing business that have evolved over recent years. It certainly needs to take account of that.

We were all very concerned, and I am especially concerned, about the vulnerabilities involved in direct debit payments, standing orders and so on. I am aware that Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, is conscious of that. I appreciate Mr. Hayes confirming this will be a priority for BPFI and the member banks.

I am a little concerned about what was said around stakeholder engagement. I may have picked it up incorrectly. The witnesses spoke of engagement with utility providers. The Chairman has put on the record the displeasure of this committee at the response of utility and energy companies with regard to their engagement, or lack thereof, with this committee on this issue. From what I can understand from what Mr. Hayes has said, and perhaps he would clarify this, contact was made, or sought, with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, and with the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, but that the engagement was not necessarily forthcoming. If that is the case-----