Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 1 December 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market: Engagement with KBC

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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KBC is in quite an interesting position. While Ireland is suffering from a banking crisis at present, KBC is in a good place to give detailed analysis as to why we are having a banking crisis. Elements of the Irish market are so unsatisfactory that it does not make sense to KBC to function here. I would like to dig down into that if I can. Mr. Blažek mentioned competition, which was fascinating. He said that unless you build up a critical mass of customers in this State, it is impossible to cover the overheads and other aspects to make the issue profitable. Will he detail that further?