Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The decision of Bank of Ireland, following in the footsteps of Ulster Bank just a few days previously, is about so much more just than bank closures. For towns in my constituency like Ballygar and Dunmore in County Galway and Elphin and Strokestown in County Roscommon, and the communities who live in them, it means the end of local banking services. The consequences of that for those communities are far greater than just banks closing their doors. As happens quite regularly, this decision was made without any consideration for rural communities or any understanding of rural areas. If I live in Elphin and my local Bank of Ireland closes and I need that bank service, I have no bank now within 20 km. The nearest possible bank is in Boyle. If I am in my 70s and no longer drive, my only option now is to get a bus to Boyle to get to the Bank of Ireland. That will take between three and a half hours and six hours, depending on the bus route. The minimum journey time for that elderly person is three and a half hours and that is just to get to the bank. The branch in Strokestown may possibly move to Roscommon with no public transport links at all.

To the poor public transport infrastructure in these areas we must also add poor quality and in some cases totally unavailable broadband. I think of my own nanny and others of her generation who have no computer, no interest in using one and who would not want to in any case. Again, this decision by Bank of Ireland totally disregards that entire generation.

Where is the Central Bank in the context of its customer protection duty? It is nowhere to be seen for these customers.

I listened to the CEO of Bank of Ireland being interviewed on a radio programme earlier this week. She insisted that the decision is based on the fact that three out of four of its customers had not set foot in a bank branch in the past year and that footfall had halved in the past year. We are in the midst of a global pandemic. Those people are only abiding by and complying with the public health restrictions. It is a very handy excuse for Bank of Ireland and that has not been lost on their customers or these rural communities. Indeed, it makes the announcement so much worse that the bank would take this step in the midst of this pandemic. Its most vulnerable customers have been cocooning for the past year, in many cases to save their own lives, while its business customers have had their doors closed and been under significant pressure. It is no coincidence that in recent days three banks have decided to pull services, regardless of the fact that we are in the midst of this pandemic. The banks see no issue with doing so. Why is that the case? It is because they can get away with it as they know the Government, which is a major stakeholder in Bank of Ireland, will take no action. I note the remarks of the Minister in respect of intervening in this situation, but he could open his mouth on behalf of these older people and rural communities that, again and again, are being left behind.

The most disappointing part of this entire decision is the impact it will have on rural development for the towns that will lose a bank branch. Many of them will be left with no bank at all. For the first time in my lifetime, for the best part of the past year we have been seeing people moving out of cities and into rural areas. That is a significant opportunity for these communities. People are actively looking to move to these areas yet, at the same time, services are still being stripped out of these communities. How then do these rural areas attract the young people who may have emigrated or entice families back to rural areas when they do not even have something as basic as a bank branch? Of course, the closures will also impact on new businesses, job creation and lending to SMEs, as research has shown. That will again reduce economic activity in these areas where it is so badly needed.

It is very easy for the Minister to say that he cannot intervene but we are talking about some of the most vulnerable citizens in the State and rural areas that, for a change, were in the best position to increase their population. We need to back that up with services if we are to keep those people in those areas. I ask the Minister to consider the impact of this decision. I understand that he cannot intervene, but he is a major stakeholder on behalf of the State and he could, at the very least, open his mouth or ask the Central Bank to step up and perform its duty.

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