Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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114. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will review and intervene to prevent the loss of a service (details supplied) to the towns affected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35423/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Notwithstanding the State's 14% minority shareholding in Bank of Ireland, I, as Minister, have no direct function in commercial decisions taken by the bank including those which are part of the relationship between the bank and its customers. Decisions of this nature are matters for the board and management of the institution. The Minister has responsibility to ensure that the bank is run on a commercial, cost effective and independent basis to protect the value of the bank as an asset to the State. Accordingly, it would not be appropriate for me to intervene in actions taken by Bank of Ireland in matters of this nature.

A Relationship Framework has been specified which defines the nature of the relationship between the Minister and Bank of Ireland which can be found at the following link: .

Notwithstanding this, officials in the Department of Finance have been provided with briefing material by Bank of Ireland relating to developments in its branch network with the bank commenting on its retention of a strong nationwide branch presence (c. 250 branches and 16 additional banking outlets), and in branches where staff move from behind the counter, the continued provision to customers of a comprehensive range of products and services, the ability to lodge and withdraw cash from easy to use self-service devices and access to online phone services. In addition, the bank has highlighted its commitment to supporting vulnerable and elderly customers in the use of digital and self-service options.

Finally, the matter raised by the Deputy was the subject of a recent Topical Issues debate and further details of the briefing material supplied by Bank of Ireland were shared with the Dáil on that occasion. The full debate can be found at the following link: .