David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The bank first thought it could transfer €100,000 a day but then it turned out to be only €20,000 a day. I eventually managed to overwhelm them and I managed to get it done. I went into the bank at 2 College Green the other day. It has an enormous banking hall, at least the size at least of this Chamber, with about 20 cashpoints, only to discover the bank had closed the foreign exchange department and had moved it into the main banking department. The bank also had only three people on duty. These unfortunate people were dealing with a catastrophe in the form of an enormous crowd that was snaking around all over the place. In my usual way, I demanded to see a manager but on this occasion, I must have been too feeble as they did not produce the manager but gave me a card to write a complaint. Consequently, I wrote all over the complaint card.

Those are the banks, which now want to get into the post offices. Oh dear. Why the hell did they close their branches in these areas? Now they want to get in again. They will not have to pay for the plant and equipment and all the rest of it. They are cockroaches, leeches or lizards. They are some peculiar form of humanoid insect life. I have to hand an internal memorandum saying that An Post is kicking off a campaign to promote banking services but it does not say who the service providers are. We know the providers will be AIB and the other one.

The banking services they offer are listed here. The memorandum refers to cash lodgement and withdrawals, credit card bill payments and more. Customers can ask at the counter for details. Does that mean they actually will be doing things in the former post offices, as they stagger on, in order that they will not have their own customers in their own branches? This is bloody ridiculous. It is absolute farce.

These are the banks who treat their customers with such utter contempt. These are the banks that were rescued and saved by the taxpayers. If one looks at the post offices, more than 300 of them are going to be closed down. In rural Ireland, post offices are closing all over the place. Banks have closed all over the place. Garda stations have closed all over the place. I would say we will soon have Roman Catholic churches closing all over the place. It does not give me any great comfort to say that. I am not antagonistic to the Roman Catholic Church at all but it is another community institution. It is where people met one another, where they socialised and exchanged information.