Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said earlier on, the development of a third banking force that is able to compete with Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, AIB, would be welcome. It is something the Government would support but any decision on Ulster Bank will be a commercial decision for NatWest. With anything we do in trying to put together a third or a new banking force, we would have to make sure that entity would be successful, viable, profitable and in a position to compete with Bank of Ireland and AIB. That would mean taking on the strong aspects. We would not want to set up a third banking force to fail. We would want to make sure we get it right.

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