Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

My question relates to creating more competition. Would AIB support the development of local public banking? Part of this relates to getting cash circulating in these small towns. I think of Castlepollard in Westmeath where the community had to chase the bank to have an ATM fitted in the local branch to keep cash circulating. How can AIB help with the circulation of cash in towns and villages around the country? I am not talking about the mobile bank that rolls in for a few hours because, to be honest, that is tokenism.

Many of these towns are really serious about their development. A rolling bank visiting for a few hours a week is not good enough. Credit is the lifeblood of small businesses. How can more credit be circulated in small towns and villages?

I will ask one final question. The bank's fees have been massive for the last while because of low interest rates. Given that interest rates are increasing, will it be cutting fees for users? The bank has not increased its interest rate recently. That is obviously welcome but people looking in from the outside will assume that the bank must previously have had a cushion built into its interest rate if it did not have to move with the European rate. Is that the case? Sin é.