Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I express my sympathy to those who have lost their jobs in Bank of Ireland and to people in rural Ireland. Many parts of my own area, including Dunmore, Ballyhaunis, Ballygar, Elphin and Strokestown, have no bank now. Ballyhaunis is a big town as we understand it in rural Ireland and it has no bank.

The banks are not going to come back and there is no point in saying Bank of Ireland is going to change. Will the Minister ask Bank of Ireland to be good enough to give the buildings it owns in rural areas to the community? We are going to seek a meeting on that. The Minister went to the banks in January and they do not give him much sustenance. Many contractors in the building sector are paying leases on machines and so on and there is no moratorium. Will the Minister seek one?

Will the Minister also change the regulations on reserves? The banks can now hold reserves of 8%, while the credit unions are being told they must maintain a reserve of 10%. For whatever reason, the credit unions will provide banking services for the ordinary Joe soap. I ask the Minister to bring in some incentive for the ATMs that we have because many towns will be left high and dry otherwise. I ask the Minister to answer those three questions.

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