Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. O'Connell and Mr. McDowell for attending. In the context of the challenges that the retail banks have faced and that have been evident in recent months and since Ulster Bank and KBC announced that they are exiting the Irish market, it has been evident that the FSU has called it right from the get-go. It anticipated that because of a scheme of staffing cuts across the retail banking sector the banks would not be capable of taking the kind of customer-focused and customer-centred approach that the Central Bank said they must take when managing the exit of two main banks. The FSU called it correctly on the challenges that would be there for the receiving banks. It said time and again that reducing hours and staff numbers in call centres would create problems. That has come to pass and was clear from the evidence provided by the banks that appeared before us last week. The timelines they set out from the get-go simply could not be achieved because of all the issues the FSU has highlighted in recent months and the FSU was correct.

I will ask a few questions in the limited time available to me. I have to leave the meeting early, which I apologise for. Could the witnesses elaborate on why they think a task force should be established to oversee the exit of Ulster Bank and KBC? The idea and concept of a task force is a good idea and it needs to be inclusive. Was that concept put to the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland and to the Central Bank in the FSU's engagement with both?