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

Have any lessons been learned from the transition? I would have thought it would be simple to transfer from one bank to another in today's technological world. I would have thought that it would have been possible to flick a switch, press a button, and turn the account or accounts over to another bank. I note Ms Howard disagreeing with me but I do not accept that at all. I think it is possible to do that and it could have been done. It would have been a lesson well learned for the convenience of the staff and the customers. I cannot understand why that could not be done because it can be done with everything else. It happens all the time.

It would have been simple, for instance, in relation to overdrafts, to transfer the overdraft as well. Why not? The bank account statements of the previous six months or year, or whatever, from the outgoing back were readily available. All they had to do was switch over. Instead of changeover, it was a continuation. I wonder whether any lessons have been learned in that regard by either bank.