Mr. John O'Connell:

I was going to say that they were private companies, but NatWest Ulster Bank is partially owned by the UK Government.

We are considering the question of what will be left behind, but we are not focusing on the physical buildings that will be left behind. Rather, we are interested in focusing on the banking system that will be left behind and on developing this debate to a point where we start hearing about the type of model that we all want. Some communities have just one last bank in town. Others have none. In such circumstances, a use could be made of them.

Other countries have banking models that ensure all communities have access to banking, where there are shared facilities and things like that. They could be put to use in terms of a future banking model but debate should centre on what that model looks like.