Seanad debates

Thursday, 12 June 2003

Interest Rates Reduction: Statements.

 

An area for and in which the State has a definite responsibility and involvement is competition. Banks openly concede that they compete on the quality of services but not on cost. That is not good enough if we are to have a proper and effective competitive environment. This should be tackled. It is probably in the interests of the main banks to embrace the spirit as well as the letter of competition because, if they fail to do so in the long run, it will only give rise to other regulatory steps being taken to ensure a competitive environment, and these regulations may not be in the interests of banks or their shareholders in the medium to long term. I encourage them to take these steps and compete on price.

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