Mr. Gabriel Makhlouf:

My simple answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes". In some respects, they already play a role. The interesting question for us all is what consumers want. Their preferences have clearly been changing in recent years and I suspect that the banking review will examine that. To a large extent, the question of what the people of Ireland want from their financial service providers will determine the shape of banking with a small "b" in future. Right now, I believe that diversity in service provision, be it through An Post, credit unions or the large retail banks, is a positive. I expect that this will be a discussion point over the coming months as the review takes off.