Mr. Brian Hayes:

We do not have the figures on that. Obviously, we are an industry group.

Each decision that each bank makes is a commercial decision it makes in its own right. In the same way as ATMs, or the hole in the walls as we know them, came in 40 years ago to service a particular need, so too has the transformation of the ATM service being sold to independent operators been part and parcel of that commercial reality for efficiencies and economies of scale. It is also that these operators have real skill in what they can provide. There have also been many other developments. The Deputy will have seen that some of our members have put together a very strong alliance with An Post. That has been very helpful in trying to keep those An Post offices open and trying to get more transactions to the 920 branches of An Post throughout the country.

The point we are making is that many different players can help in the transmission of cash. As we showed to two of our members in their alliance with An Post, that has really helped to improve footfall in An Post, in the same way that putting in independent terminals in shops has helped footfall in some of those centres. As my colleagues said, if one looks at the UK legislation, a much wider group of providers is involved, including payment service providers, PSPs, the UK post office and the like, to help do that work. That is all we are trying to say on this. It is a wider pitch. However, the decision to sell ATMs is a commercial decision that banks will take as they see fit.