Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to see the Minister in the House. When I was in the Dáil and I chaired some sessions, we used to meet far more regularly but I have to say that his courtesy to me when I was in the Chair always stood out and I always appreciated that.The Minister concluded his contribution as follows:

Looking to the future, the Government wants to ensure that the banking and financial system is one that will effectively contribute and support economic growth and employment. Ultimately, the banking industry should not be regarded as an end in itself but rather as a system that will serve as the means to help households and firms achieve their financial, economic and social needs.

I agree with him. That is a strong statement but, as matters stand, Irish banks are not doing this. I have often heard older people comment that it was their small savings that built up the Bank of Ireland. In that respect, I am mindful of my parents and grandparents who are now deceased.

We all accept banking is changing. It is moving on, with modernisation and broadband access. In one fell swoop, 10,000 people have been left without a banking service in north-east Roscommon. After all the promises and commitments Bank of Ireland made to the local community not to close its branches, it decided to close its branches in Elphin and Strokestown. By doing that, in excess of 10,000 people in an area stretching from Tarmonbarry to Rooskey right up to Lanesborough, Ballyleague, Strokestown and Elphin have been left without a banking service where they can walk in and do their business.

I very much agree with Senator Ward and others that we can solve this issue through the credit unions, of which I am a great supporter. They have the network and staff. I understand the Central Bank has a say in this and it is not all down to the Minister. We have to work on the Central Bank guidelines. While the guidelines may allow credit unions to do a little more with respect to borrowing, they are still not allowed to become banks. We need community banks and we have that solution. It is not acceptable in rural communities that people can be left without a walk-in bank service, despite technology and other changes.

I met a young couple at the weekend who have a small business in my region. They have been doing well despite Covid. They had innovative ideas and changed the way they operated. We have all had to adapt to change. They expressed concern that they would no longer have a walk-in bank service which would allow them to indicate to an official that, for example, they would make an extra drawdown on their current account in the following two weeks. They were able to engage with a bank official in the past and advise, for example, that X amount of money would leave their account the following week and they might need cover for two weeks until money came into their account. They fear the more they go into the system of technology, the more they will be outside the box and a black tick will be put against their credit rating. That is a worry for many people.

I compliment the Minister and the Government on all the payments they put in place and I compliment the banks on co-operating to help people out. Even with Covid, many young innovative people in rural Ireland are thinking of starting new businesses, which is great. With the way the banking system is going, however, they are having doubts about it. We need to address what has happened with the banks. We accept that banks will change and will not wait for people to catch up. It is their job to make profits. That is what they will tell us. However, they owe something to society and they should not just walk away. The Government and we, as politicians, must put something in place.

We had the ICC Bank, which was established in 1933, and the ACC Bank, which was established in 1927. The former provided for the small business sector and the latter for agriculture. I do not know what happened to ICC Bank but it was probably absorbed by another bank. ACC Bank became part of Rabobank, which no longer operates here. There have been many changes. Accepting that technology will change and we will have to move on, I am anxious to ensure certain cohorts of people are not left behind. That is important in the context of rural Ireland. I thank the Minister for giving his time today.