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

I thank the Deputy and acknowledge that he has been raising this issue with me from the beginning, at the moment when concerns began to develop regarding the future of Ulster Bank. Given the importance of that bank in the communities he represents, he has raised this issue regularly with me in the House.

As he will be aware, while I deeply regret the decision made by Ulster Bank and KBC, I do not have a role to play in the operational decisions they are making. Nevertheless, this is a matter of great focus for our Central Bank and the Department, and we are engaging regularly on this matter with the banks that are withdrawing. Representatives of both banks are meeting my officials at least monthly and providing information to the Department of Finance regarding account closures. My Department is also engaging regularly with the Central Bank of Ireland, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Banking & Payments Federation of Ireland to ensure a cohesive and orderly approach to this issue. Both banks are providing their customers with six months’ notice to close their accounts and have committed not to close any branches this year.

The advertising campaign that is under way, which is prominent and has a high profile, is reminding consumers of what they need to do. As for the progress made, on 9 September, the Central Bank released statistics on account change, which indicated that 24% of the current and deposit accounts that were open at the beginning of the year in Ulster Bank and KBC had been closed by the end of August. That points to the efforts that are under way to deal with this matter in a careful way. I want the remaining banks to have the resources in place to deal with the account migration that is under way.

I assure the Deputy the Central Bank and my Department will continue to monitor the matter closely because it is a very big project that matters deeply to those consumers and bank users that will switch bank.

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