Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

There are all kinds of security issues and customers must be wary. I am not saying that any of these things will resolve all the security problems. The reality is that there has been a very significant move by the public to use technology in one form or another. I do not think the charge is penal. The charge had moved from cheques onto the other methods. The vast majority of people are using the other methods, so we are making the other methods cheaper. Most of them were brought in during the past 25 years, so most people up to the age of 50 are almost exclusively using these methods.

A great number of elderly people also use these methods, following advertising campaigns by the banks about savings and security. I am afraid that people have largely voted with their feet on this issue. The reductions are in the methods that most people use. This increase has taken back some of the €60 million reduction, but not an enormous amount of it.

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