David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Seconded. I raise the illegal banking activities of the Bank of Ireland regarding Irish citizens and groups composed of Irish citizens. Reports appeared in early June in the newspapers that the Bank of Ireland was closing down all Cuban-associated accounts. The Cuba Support Group, which is known to many Members, a very responsible and respectable group, contacted its bank and was reassured that nothing was happening. Then on 11 July it received a letter saying that all its accounts were being closed. It got a second letter on 14 July giving it two days' notice of the closure. I find this quite extraordinary. It seems to be an off-shoot of the Helms-Burton Act, to which this country responded by introducing legislation of our own, ensuring that these conditions would not be employed in Irish banking. On 22 September, the Cuba Support Group called the Bank of Ireland in Swords and left a message on the voicemail and received a call from Mr. Kenny Morgan, the manager of the Swords branch, to say that he was sorry, but the decision to close the account had been taken in the US parent office and could not be changed.

I ask the Leader, as a matter of urgency and of grave concern, to ask the Minister whether it is in accordance with Irish law that a wholly Irish NGO, operating in Ireland and funded by a membership entirely located within the Republic of Ireland, namely the Cuba Support Group, can have its banking service terminated at short notice because of the decision of an American company which Bank of Ireland is using to process financial transactions. If an Irish bank refuses to provide banking services to the Cuba Support Group as a result of US banking regulations administered by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, will the Minister with responsibility for trade act to prosecute them in accordance with Irish and European law, prohibiting the extra-territorial application of US law in the illegal US blockade of Cuba? I emphasise that there is a European position to resist this colonialist attempt to intervene in Irish banking practice for purely political purposes of the United States of America and against the interest of citizens, banks and groups in this country. What emergency facilities will the Minister for Finance make available to allow the Cuba Support Group to operate a functioning Irish bank account with cheque-clearing and electronic transfer facilities while his colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, undertakes prosecutions?

This is an entirely Irish-owned and operated membership organisation affected by some group in the United States because of the operation of the Helms-Burton Act. It is plainly illegal and the Irish authorities should act against this. It is an attempt to close down a group that is critical of American foreign policy in a way that many of us who are friends of America are also critical. They have already closed down the group's PayPal account. They cannot get new members through PayPal because America has decided they cannot do so in this country. Are we a colony?