Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. To its credit, Bank of Ireland has maintained its branch network nationally. However, if changes like this take hold, the role of the branch will diminish over time. All that will be left in branches will be back-office staff and the role of the branch in rural and local communities will come increasingly under question. I am still not clear as to what the policy of Bank of Ireland is on withdrawals of less than €700 and lodgments of less than €3,000 over the counter. Will a member of staff be available to help a vulnerable or elderly person to use the machine in the branch or will the over-the-counter services be available as normal? Many people prefer to deal with a person rather than a machine and one must question the direction of banking, the model we want to see and the level of customer service we are promoting. It is fine to direct people to ATMs but half of the time, they are out of service. Many of them do not dispense €10 notes. Almost all the time one gets a €50 note if one has that much money in one's account. At minimum, one can withdraw €20. It is not consumer friendly and the Central Bank needs to look at it.

Can the Minister clarify his understanding of the position if an elderly person goes into a branch of Bank of Ireland next month and seeks to withdraw €100? Will that be facilitated?

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