Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When before the committee, the banks were suggesting that the reserves they are forced to hold at present were in some ways a deterrent in regard to the extent to which they could lend to their customers. Is there a possibility of there being a reduction in the amount of reserves they are required to hold? The reason the reserves are there now is because of the financial collapse but we cannot be punished forever for the financial collapse. We must at some stage establish our credibility as a banking system. The public needs to have full confidence in the banking system being capable of recovering and doing the job that the banking system always did.