Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 1 February 2023

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

Engagement with Ulster Bank and KBC Bank Ireland

Ms Jane Howard:

I believe the timeline for the SME regulations is 30 days after you have crystalised the debt and served notice, and then you have gone into the arrears process. It is in our interest and that of customers to give them a bit longer than that. So once we have frozen the debt and gone into the process, we will see how long they need to repay the debt. The most important thing is that customers engage with us. Once they engage with us then we can agree timescales that work for them. Undoubtedly, there will be some where we cannot find a solution but it is in our interest and that of customers to try to find a solution.