Mr. Ed Sibley:

As I understand the question, it relates to the banks that are serving the economy, businesses and consumers here rather than those that are coming to Ireland as a result of Brexit. By international and European standards, the Irish retail banking market is somewhat concentrated. It is more concentrated than in other jurisdictions in terms of the level of competition in the market. There are definitely more competitive banking markets. That said, we have seen more competition across and between the Irish banks over the past few years. We are seeing some degree of competition coming in from outside, either from other banks or from other types of more specialist financial services providers. In addition, the retail banking market is, from an SME perspective, even more concentrated. There are primarily three banks that are providing services to SMEs of any real scale within Ireland. The other two provide some such services but not of particular scale. That potentially is an even more concentrated market.

In terms of our role if a firm decides to leave, in the system we operate we expect firms to be able to enter the market and, also, exit the market. If they are to exit, it is important that they do so in an orderly fashion and without too much risk of externalities or cost to the taxpayer or the State. Whenever there is a significant business change for a large institution, we would engage extensively with that firm about the approach it is taking to that change and how the risks associated with the change would be managed. We do have particular requirements under the consumer protection code in terms of engagement which, my colleague, Ms McEvoy, will provide a little more detail on.