Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State mentioned the credit unions’ willingness to step in, particularly given the closure of bank branches throughout the country. There have been a number of high-profile branch closures, including in my constituency and in Dublin city. Only last week, Shankill in my constituency lost its ATM. Some Deputies might say that that is not the end of the world. However, it is for a community that relies on that ATM to access services.

I also commend Core Credit Union for its proactive nature in expanding its services. That is exactly what the credit unions want to do. They want to expand services, such as loans, savings, current accounts, debit cards, apps, online banking and so on. With the right support from Government and from the Central Bank of Ireland, credit unions say that they can continue to be present in towns and villages, which is important. I acknowledge what the Minister of State is saying about that. The Minister of State might please keep in contact with me about that engagement, to ensure that once the review is complete we know exactly where we are.

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