Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. It has been a bad ten days or so for the banking sector in Ireland. First we had the NatWest announcement that it would be closing its Ulster Bank branches, which will have a huge impact in my county of Clare where there are branches in Shannon town and in the county town of Ennis. Many of the branches are in buildings in iconic locations. The same applies to some of the Bank of Ireland branches that are to be closed, several of which have been there for well over 100 years. Bank of Ireland's announcement that it is closing 103 branches is another huge blow to my county and a strike on rural Ireland.

It is a devastating and, I would say, ageist blow, because the people most impacted by the closure of banks in Tulla, Miltown Malbay and Kilkee are the elderly and others who may not be adept at pushing their thumb across a small screen and doing online banking. It will impact those who do not use Stripe, PayPal or other online transfer services. When things were opened up somewhat last year, I visited the homes of people in rural areas in my constituency who take out wads of cash. They go to their local bank and make a withdrawal of cash to carry them through the next three or four months. It is not a safe or sustainable way to do things and it is not the way banking is supposed to be. The banks are turning their backs on their most loyal customers in rural Ireland. Worse than that, Bank of Ireland is not giving a commitment to retain ATM services in Tulla, Miltown Malbay and Kilkee. Where will people go to take out money? If they are lucky, there might be a Spar shop that has an ATM down the back beside the eggs and bread. The bank is pulling out entirely and showing no loyalty whatsoever.

I want to deal with the idea that An Post will offer some type of outpost banking facility and that this will be a panacea or magic wand for that company. There may be Bank of Ireland stickers around the Perspex screens and hatches but a postmaster told me that, at best, this will give approximately €1,500 to €1,800 per annum in additional income for post offices. It is not a panacea for the ailing post office network. My colleague, Deputy McGuinness, made the point that we need to work towards having a third type of banking system. We have pillar banks and credit unions but we also need community banking. We have seen how well the Sparkasse model of community banking in Germany and the Kiwibank in New Zealand have worked. The profits in those banks go back into the community. It is a fabulous model and one the Government must pursue.

I implore that everything be done to help the communities affected by the bank closures. The argument will be made that these are commercial decisions taken by commercial banks but anything that can be done should be done. This is a strike on rural Ireland and the banks are using the Covid crisis as an excuse to draw the shutters on their branches.

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