Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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84. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 214 of 23 April 2013, when he stated he welcomed KBC Group’s commitment to the Irish market and note that it is planning to develop its business in Ireland further with new retail branches and distribution platforms to be rolled out in 2013 and continued expansion of its retail product portfolio; if he will confirm the quantum of new lending by KBC in Ireland in 2013; and his views on KBC’s deposit gathering operation which has seen retail deposits increase threefold since 2011 from €1 billion to €2.9 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2013. [51831/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Competition in the retail deposit market is a good thing for Irish customers. As the Deputy is aware, I have no function in setting the interest rates that commercial banks are willing to pay for deposits. I strongly urge customers to shop around and obtain the best rate they can for the type of account they want, the duration and the amount they are depositing. The National Consumer Agency’s website is particularly useful for this. The quantum of new lending by KBC in Ireland in 2013 is a commercial matter for the bank concerned and is not in the public domain.

The deposit inflows and outflows of banks are monitored on a weekly basis by the Central Bank of Ireland with its liquidity risk assessment framework.

My Department publishes information on deposit trends in the Irish Covered Banks (AIB Group (including EBS Building Society), Bank of Ireland Group, Permanent TSB and IBRC) monthly. Deposit volumes remained broadly stable in October 2013 at €152.7 billion, with deposits decreasing by €1.5 billion month-on-month.

I would remind the Deputy that deposits up to and including €100,000 per individual per institution (€200,000 for joint accounts) are covered by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme.