Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. While some signs have been encouraging of late, it is still clear to me that banks have been extremely slow to react. It is always when it suits the banks that they are slow to react. They are not so slow to pass on interest rate rises to borrowers but for deposit holders, those interest rates rises simply are not passed on to the same degree. Recently, with the entry of Bunq into the market, we have seen quite a flight of deposits because of better rates being offered. It shows that Irish consumers want to have better rates. At a time of inflation, albeit decreasing thankfully, people are losing a huge amount of money because of the really poor returns they are getting on their deposits. I ask the Minister to keep up the pressure on the banks to ensure people get a fair deal and that they are not losing significant amounts of their savings every year by simply keeping those deposits in the bank. At a time when we are trying to bring inflation under control, we do not want to see huge spending by people trying to avoid losing money because of deposits.

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