Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate the role of the Central Bank in the authorisation process. If such an application was made that role would obviously have to kick in. It is four years now since Governor Honohan responded to me in this committee when he said, and I quote:

There should be a second tier of banking which is geared more towards local concerns, with local managers and a greater level of local awareness. This would be on a scale larger than the credit unions. They could be the nucleus of it, but the credit unions as they stand are too small individually to be really effective suppliers of services. This is all a long-term vision. The entry of large international banks into the Irish system does not seem to be coming down the tracks, although these things can change.

The Governor clearly advocated that type of second tier of banking, recognising gaps that were there in lending to SMEs.