Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Section 10 of the Act does, I believe, lay down criteria regarding the operation of banks in Ireland, but it does not constrain those banks from making commercial decisions regarding their future and operations. That is what has happened in the case of NatWest Bank.

On the Deputy's second question, there is nothing to stop any individual credit union making money available for a loan for a purpose it deems worthy. We have provided guidance regarding how credit unions can work together to try to meet some of the demand to fund community and social housing. None of that, however, can get away from the reality that a consequence of the monetary policy in place to help us deal with the economic effects of Covid-19 is negative interest rates. As Deputy McNamara will understand, those rates in turn affect the cost of holding deposits for any financial institution.

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