Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It seems that the Minister's reply means that Bank of Ireland has done nothing whatsoever, or very little, about its standard variable rate. Although the Minister has been able to influence the State-owned banks, I suggest his relationship with Bank of Ireland is that of a junior partner. It is all very well for him to clothe it in a certain type of language by saying he has no day-to-day influence over the running or operation of the Bank of Ireland. I accept that he cannot intervene in the running of Bank of Ireland in a meaningful way, but it appears that when an effort was made to persuade it to reduce its standard variable rate, the attitude it took was completely different from that taken by AIB. The Minister referred obliquely to AIB's decision to reduce its rate. Bank of Ireland decided to eyeball him by doing nothing. It offered fixed rate options, but it left its variable rate very close to the exorbitantly high rate at which it was. Does this mean that the bank, in which the Minister has a 14% shareholding, is operating on a completely different basis on these matters from AIB, in which the Minister has a shareholding of approximately 98%? If these two large bodies which constitute a duopoly are operating on different terms and have different relationships with the Government, it is a matter of some concern.

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