Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We should make it a Brexit response unit and that might kick it into action.

I recall An Post going into banking with Postbank. I was slightly concerned when I saw a twinkle in some executive's eye when I asked where it was going to make money on the lending side. The executive referred, with a smile, to mortgages. I remember shutting down that bank because it went bust, like so many other banks at the time.

It is good to hear that An Post is having success in terms of credit cards and deposits. I know a certain amount about banking, such as that money is not made in banking unless there is lending. I will be perfectly honest. I am concerned I have not heard anything about An Post having any commercial lending experience or expertise in the two years since it first indicated this as a strategic direction. I am encouraged that An Post is talking to Sparkassen because it seems to have a certain capability in that regard. A warning sign is going off in my head because if a bank is not lending it is not making money. Maybe An Post is the exception because it is good at dealing with large volumes of low value transactions. Where is its expertise in lending?