Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. He is right in saying it is timely given that at this time of year people tend to review their finances and look at ways of reducing costs and saving money.
I will address the issue of advertising and provision of information first. The Central Bank's consumer protection code of 2012 provides that a regulated entity must provide the consumer, on paper or on another durable medium, with a breakdown of all charges, including third-party charges, which will be passed on to the consumer. In addition, the code states:

A regulated entity must display in its public offices, in a manner that is easily accessible to consumers, a schedule of fees and charges imposed by that regulated entity. If the regulated entity has a website, its schedule of fees and charges must also be made publicly available through placing this schedule on its website.

The section of the code which deals with advertising provides that "A regulated entity must ensure that... key information, in relation to the advertised product or service, is prominent and is not obscured or disguised in any way by the content, design or format of the advertisement". Key information means any information that is likely to influence a consumer's actions with regard to a product or service.
I will now turn to the controls imposed by the Central Bank on bank charges. The Senator raised section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995. That section requires that credit institutions, prescribed credit institutions and bureaux de change must make a submission to the Central Bank if they wish to introduce any new customer charges or increase any existing customer charges in respect of certain services. Section 149 does not cover interest rates; it applies to fees and commissions only.
As part of the conditions under which the Irish banks received state aid, Ireland made various sectoral commitments to the European Commission in order to promote competition in the Irish banking sector. Among these commitments, section 1.1(b) of the approved state aid for Bank of Ireland states: "Legislation will be enacted that will provide that Section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act, 1995 regarding price regulation and fees will not be applied to new entrants in their first 3 years of commencing business in Ireland". This three-year exemption from section 149 has been given effect in the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 and applies to new market entrants from 1 August 2013.
Section 149 requires the Central Bank to take account of the following in assessing an application for an increase in fees or for new charges:

(a) the promotion of fair competition between—

(i) credit institutions, and
(ii) credit institutions carrying on a particular type of banking or financial business,

(b) the statement of commercial justification referred to insubsection (3)(b),
(c) a credit institution passing any costs on to its customers or a group of its customers in proposing to impose or change any charge, in relation to the provision of a service to a customer or a group of its customers, and
(d) the effect on customers or a group of customers of any proposal to impose or change any charge in relation to the provision of such service.

The Department of Finance undertook a review of the regulation of bank charges in Ireland which was published early last year and is available on the Department's website at www.finance.gov.ie. The review concluded that it would not be appropriate to repeal section 149 at that point in time. The lack of competition in the banking sector means that the removal of section 149 would give unfettered price-setting power to the incumbent banks.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has a website, consumerhelp.ie, which has a section that compares various financial products including current accounts. It lists the various charges imposed by the various financial institutions for different types of transactions including Internet transactions.
The institutions have varying models for charges and have different regimes and conditions under which they are willing to grant banking free of transaction charges. Individuals' use of their bank account will be specific to each individual and I would strongly encourage people to look at this comparison site with their specific circumstances in mind in order to decide which institution offers the best product for their pattern of account usage.
At EU level, the payment accounts directive introduces rules on the transparency and comparability of fees related to payment accounts, payment account switching and access to payment accounts with basic features. The payment accounts directive was agreed in August 2014 and will be transposed by the Department of Finance.
I hope my putting this information on the record of the House is of use to consumers in the area of bank charges, and in ensuring transparency and fairness.