Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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48. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will address the diminution of banking services in rural Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50715/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I should stress at the outset that the Irish Government has no formal role in the commercial decisions of the banks as to their future business model and whether or not they will close particular branches.

 The Deputy will no doubt appreciate that the provision of services by banks, including the location of branches, is a commercial decision for the Boards and management of the institutions.

That said, I expect that any bank closing branches will do everything that it can to mitigate the impacts of the branch closures on local communities, including technology and the use of alternative means of service delivery. I also expect that the bank will ensure that customers are kept informed about developments and provided with the appropriate assistance to move branches, switch to other banks and avail of alternative means of accessing financial services. The Central Bank will also have a role in ensuring that consumer protection rules are followed.

The Deputy may be interested to hear that An Post are providing a new current account service, the An Post Smart Account to the public.  This offers a number of features to its account holders.  Consumers can apply for an account online or in any Smart Account Post Office.

The Deputy will be aware of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) whose mission is to deliver to Irish SMEs effective financial supports that address failures in the Irish credit market, while driving competition and innovation and ensuring the efficient use of available EU resources.

The SBCI does not engage in direct lending.  It utilises an on-lending model, making finance available through partner finance providers known as on-lenders. 

The SBCI began lending in March 2015. To the end of June 2017, €855 million of SBCI funding has been provided to 21,132 Irish SMEs, supporting 106,728 jobs. This represents an increase of 57% in SBCI lending since the end of December 2016. The interest rate on SBCI loans is 1.15% lower than the average market interest rate on loans to SMEs. Of specific relevance to this question is that 85% of SBCI loans are to SMEs based outside of Dublin.