Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will leave it at that, on that point, and ask that the banks look at their own operations and the penalty that applies. The Good Friday Agreement requires all of us to try to harmonise issues on an all-island basis and that 20% penalty is sometimes excessive.

I want to mention an issue I raised two years ago with Mr. Crowley and others, and that is the instant payment app. It is ridiculous that the banks here still do not have an instant payment app and now we find out that they have hit another roadblock because they did not apply for Central Bank approval. I know Mr. Hayes and the BPFI are anchoring this. However, we have been talking about this since 2019. I say this in the context of the banks’ extreme profitability as a result of what has happened with the ECB. Investment in technology is expected by people, and I will not even get into the ATM faults and all the other issues but people expect proper technology and proper access to service. Things keep moving on but it seems the traditional banks here are still stuck. We are not going to have an instant payment app in 2023 by any of the banks. It will be at least 2024, I presume. That is ridiculous. How many years does it take for the banks to develop something? According to a conversation here two years ago SEPA instant actually allows them to plug in and do something but they wanted to do something different, something unique, themselves. However, they do not have it. The customers do not have it. Yet we have N26 and Revolut. Why not? Everyone is using these. They are so accessible. The kids have them. You transfer money instantly. Yet when somebody wants to be paid, with AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB, you need their IBAN number, you need to input it and get clearance, get help to do it, get a computer and so on. In this day and age there is an expectation of IT investment. At the end of the day the people have made significant profits for the banks and it is not being returned. There is some frustration there. I would like to hear an update as to when is a credible date on which customers at AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB will be able to transfer money to each other as they have been able to do on other platforms for many years. When is that likely to happen in the Irish banking context? The banks are so far behind on this that it is unbelievable. Regulations are moving ahead as well. It is frustrating.